The Outdoorist

Our last night before heading into Vancouver we stayed the night at a nice looking rest area in B.C. We awake to find it was near a beautiful lake and met some really neat people. Meet Dave and his dog Tiny:

Dave is a  bum who moves around, here and there. He was currently taking residence down by the lake. He is on welfare but decided to do his part by cleaning up the area. I respect him for it. He spent most of the morning racking leaves. He also collects plastic bottles to recycle for cash.  Dave shared with me parts of his life. Interesting man. He says he would love to be a cowboy and die doing it. If you happen to see him say hello for us!

Dave also likes to sell things he finds in the trash. He has found some pretty great thing! Currently he was selling this piece of wood. We all think it resembles a women.

Rick messing around, giving her a ride on Dave’s bike

Meet Cheyenne and Rick. They are rubber trampers, always moving. They were very kind people and made us a yummy breakfast  Cheyenne was sweet and Rick nice as well. I brought out my Ukulele, thus finding out Rick is an excellent spontaneous rapper!

They also had awesome, comfy wooden fold up chairs that I want to build.

After our Alaskan adventure we headed back south to Vancouver. On this drive back we took it easy and made many stops. We also saw many animals! The weather was a lot better on the drive back, thus heightening the “wow” factor.

Million Dollar falls, cause it’s really green.

Sign Post Forest

Buffaloes! We also saw many black bear foraging along the roadside, caribou, big horned sheep and Moose! Another neat thing we saw was the Northern Lights. That was very special, something everyone needs to see.

Natural hot springs somewhere in Yukon. They had three sections, very hot, hot and warm.

Camping in the Yukon was awesome. It was cheap and the cleanest campgrounds we have ever been to, well maintained. And free firewood, can’t get any better than that!

Jonny Hot Potato

Camp

Dinner. Home made corn dogs!

The fire master!

Here are our experiences on the car ferry and Juneau:

Loading up

Beneath.




Glacier snuggled in the valley of the mountains.

It was windy and cold!

Juneau and the Mendenhall glacier

On the boat ride we got to see Humpback whales and Killer whales, also mountain goats. Unfortunately I could not get a good picture

It was rainy most of the time we were there.

Down town Juneau. It was very touristy for the cruise ships that come visith. A local shop owner thought we were locals, cause we weren’t carrying umbrellas and wearing plastic ponchos. We just didn’t care too. It was nice a nice compliment

My fellow Alaskan

Yummy fudge

This was in a Russian Doll shop. Look how tiny it goes!

Cute house.

The Capitol. A very simple building, square and nothing to ornate.

A ski wall/structure

Camp. Jonny using our back door to escape the rain and cook dinner.

Good Morning!

I like fungi

On an short walk to the beach.

We finally made it to the last frontier. After a long 4 day drive of over 2,600 miles. We decided to drive to Haines, Alaska to take the ferry to the capitol Juneau. Ferry is the only way to get there because it is landlocked. We could of taken a ferry south of Haines in Canada, but it would of cost us around $1,000 for us and the car plus a day and a half trip. From Haines it was about $320 and a 4 hour trip.

People like to hunt in A.K. Look how big this grizz is!

We ate at this yummy place. Mmmm…

Typical Alaskan set up. A crusty truck with a dog waiting faithfully in the rain.

The moon and the sun. I love the native art.

Wanted that hat…




This body of water was filled with spanning Salmon which drew the locals.

Hooked em’ in the back!

Cleaning/ Filleting table which then attracted…

The bears! Grizzles.

A Momma and her three cubs


We were kinda close. They are just below the hill, probably less then 8 feet away…

It was really neat to watch these animals in there natural environment. They were very large and one looked me in the eye which felt like minutes but was probably only a few seconds. We had a moment. He had these beady black eyes that looked into my soul as I looked into his. Can’t explain it well but it was a special moment with me and the bear.

This was just after our “moment” :p


Yeah, they were everywhere!

I went on a little walk and this is what I found. Hope you enjoy, as I think I did an excellent photo job What do you think?








L is for Love


I then got on a fungi kick. They are neat little creatures.

Made it to Canada! But not after waiting in customs while they searched our car. Probably wasn’t a good idea to tell them we don’t know how long were staying and have no general direction…Plus the fact that we don’t have any “ties” to the U.S. meaning no jobs or home…


This may seem cheap but it’s by the leader!

Everything was in both French and English

WOW!

A little home decor.



A cool hill where people spelled out things with rocks

Jonny got sick of me…

Love all of the Native art


Big beautiful sky

The drive up to Alaska was a long one. It took us 4 days and about 2,600 miles. We call Canada the place of wow because every corner we took it was just beautiful! We couldn’t help but say “wow!” aloud. Tried to capture some of these moments but the camera doesn’t do it justice to see everything in person.

The route up to Haines, Alaska

Home Sweet Home


Our favorite chips!mmm…Canada exclusive. They also make ketchup chips.

Worlds largest fly fishing pole

Funny picture

These guys are using nets and spears to catch Salmon that get squeezed through this small part of the river.

This is how we “shower”…hot pot of water and a washcloth does the job well


Another thing interesting is the night didn’t really come until about 9:45, when this picture was taken.

Rest Stop naps

A very sweet dog I met outside a store. Wanted to take her with me…

Our travels brought us to Seattle where we got to visit my sister Brianne. Where she gave us her grand tour of her new city

First thing we did was had a yummy lunch in China town.

~Her first try of Pho!~

After we went to the action packed cool place called Pikes.

~Cool book store~

~Sword sallower!~

~Acep Hale street magician, and a good one at that! ~

After a fantastic show we went to the first Starbucks location.

~In front was a neat band~

~The space needle~

~Nala~

Washington’s capital! It is by far the grandest of them yet. It houses the most Tiffany fixtures in the United States…If I remember that right.

~Giant Tiffany lamp. The Acorn on the end weighs 65lb!~

~Another Tiffany~

~Veterans memorial~

After visiting Jeff and Angie we drove to Mt. St. Helens, Washington.

~St. Helens before the 1980 explosion~

~The mountain today~

~Downed trees from the force~

~A tree that splintered from the force of the explosion ~

After visiting the mountain we drove around the back side and found a nice secluded spot to camp. Little did we know we were being watched…

~We made a yummy dinner of fresh slab of salmon and green beans~

Everything was fine and dandy. We made dinner, started a fire, talked and played music. About 9:30 when we were settled we heard noises…branches snapping. Snap, snap, SNAP! It was Sasquatch, a bear, could of been a fox but we didn’t care. We were spooked and packed everything quickly and got the heck out of there! We laugh about now. Don’t think we’ll be doing that again. Ended up sleeping at a rest area.

Heading to visit Jonny’s cousin.

~Enjoying my early birthday present ~

We stopped at a fish hatchery.

Made it! And had a very nice time just hanging out. Thanks Jeff and Angie!

~Jackie loved playing the Uke!~

~Big girl!~