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Alaska Travel
As we are packing to return to Alaska, I am also planning our 2025 budget. It is much easier to anticipate what we might spend now that we are on our fourth season! Last year, I tracked the cost of all our mini-vacations, from 3 to 10 days. It cost us $2630 to drive our…
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Coastal Alabama
My side of the family met in Alabama this January. We stayed near the beach in Gulf Shores for 4 days. One day we all took the ferry over to Dauphin Island for lunch and to enjoy the Aquarium there. After the rest of the family left, C and I spent a couple more days…
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Blind Date
I have been chuckling all day since adding “arrange Blind Date” on my to-do list. My proposed dates to reserve a Greater Prairie Chicken Viewing Blind in Minnesota were rejected late last night. Thus, the top priority today was reviewing open dates for the popular blinds at Bluestem Prairie and working one of these dates…
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Day of Rest
I love my weekly day of rest. I enjoy it so much that C suggested I take two days “off off” most weeks now that I am retired. That intriguing idea hasn’t been coming together yet. Six days each week I exercise; plan, prep, and eat healthy food, clean house, and work on my task…
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Whittier, Alaska
We stayed in Whittier September 10 and 11, 2024. While the tiny city gets mixed reviews, we thoroughly enjoyed it and would like to stay there again. It IS different. In order to get to or from the city by road or train, you travel through a narrow, one-way tunnel. There is only room for…
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Happy Birds
I woke up to dozens of birds feeding in the trees this morning. There is a rotating menagerie of robins and cedar waxwing in our Hawthorn tree. The fruit must be in prime condition today. Earlier this morning, one aggressive robin tried to claim the entire tree as his (or her?) own. Now birds fly…
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Home! Arrived in VA October 1, 2024
Day 10: We are home in Virginia after driving 4408 miles from Healy, Alaska. We supposedly added 70 miles by going through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to get through the Great Lakes rather than going south of the Great Lakes via Chicago. But somehow, it was 4408 miles this fall via the UP, and…
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Wakefield to Gaylord, MI
Day Eight, we have now driven 3650 miles, with 750 miles to go. We both had sore shoulders today and started late. We also stopped frequently at various sites along three of the Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan, and Huron). Tonight we are staying at a nice Best Western in Gaylord for $105. We enjoyed the…
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Steinbach, MB to Wakefield, MI
Day Seven: We have driven 3300 miles from Healy, Alaska and have 1100 miles remaining. We are ready to be home! We left Canada this morning, happy to be back to miles per hour, which we can clearly see on the speedometer. Neither of us can reasonably read the kilometers per hour markings on the…
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Lanigan, SK to Steinbach, MB (plus piece of Alaska)
Day Six: we have now traveled 2800 miles from Healy, Alaska and have 1600 to go. We will cross into the United States tomorrow at the Warroad, Minnesota border crossing. Our fun stop for the day was Portage Spillway Provincal Park, which surprised us by having thousands of birds. We saw a White Pelican, a…
Me & C
Roaming: Shenandoah River to the Alaska Range
Me & C 