CJ & Autumn Miller

Sunday night we flew together to Port Alsworth for the first time. CJ landed the C-182 on the dirt/gravel strip & we began transferring our load to the maintenance truck to drop off at the house. I took a quick look around our new home & then we went to the Farm for a dinner party with tons of people from town. I saw lots of new faces & met lots of people & it was overwhelming, but great.
During the days I unpacked boxes & put up shelves. Monday night we went for a walk along the stony beaches of Lake Clark. Tuesday night Jeremiah took CJ & I out for a ride in his boat & the boys fished. We met up with another group across the lake & repelled off the high cliffs along the water before returning home. Wednesday we enjoyed a fish fry before flying back to the ranch.

Last night CJ flew back from Port Alsworth in the C-182! It was misting, windy, cloudy & cold, but the weather was decent through the mountain pass. I am so glad to have him around again. Dwayne & Caroline invited us to their place for chocolate milkshakes to celebrate CJ's return. All night I was trying to milk CJ for stories of our new town & I couldn't go to sleep without seeing pictures of our new home.
Today we drove into Anchorage, again. We got propane, DMV study booklets, a rental agreement, a parking space at Merrill Field, new rubber boots, two kayak paddles, a used hiking backpack, a Costco membership, & a half price frappuccino. We are so glad not to be moving into the city. Traffic stresses us out.
When we returned to the ranch Cameron was taking off in his Champ. I used his touch and go practice as a photo opportunity.

CJ has been in Port Alsworth working since Sunday night, so Teco & I are manning the fort. We have been taking lots of walks & this morning she proved herself to be a watch dog. A little before 6:00am Teco started barking & growling more ferociously than I have ever heard. I crawled out of my warm electric mattress pad heated bed to see what the fuss was all about. There was a large moose right outside the window staring at Teco. I don't think the moose was intimidated by my little growling floppy eared dog. I think the moose was rather amused & considered it a good opportunity for a staring contest. Meanwhile, I turned on the water heater & waited for my shower water to heat up. I quickly noticed the propane tank was empty & the heat & heater were not working, so I had to wait for the moose to leave before switching propane tanks outside. Needless to say, I was late for breakfast.
Yesterday I drove an hour to Wasilla & waved at Sara Palin. I hit Three Bear, Walmart & Target & came back with a Subaru full of bulk non-perishables to begin our Port Alsworth food stash. All food has to be flown in, so this is going to be tricky. It was frightening to spend that much money on food & supplies all at once.  I hope I get better at this. Today I will start my vegetable seeds in the window of the camper & pray for good weather so I can see CJ tonight!

We have been staying in Dwayne's fifth wheel this week on mile 81 of the Alaska Highway. Thursday we returned the UHaul in Anchorage & dropped our large items off at Lake Clark Air for them to fly in at $.50/lb. We weighed each item at Merrill Field & had a grand total of 1500 lbs., more than a third of that being tools & toolboxes. Our household boxes & bins are being stored at Dwayne's Ranch until we are able to fly them in. Friday we returned to Anchorage to take drug tests for LCA & do some more errands.  
Sunday afternoon we began weighing our boxes & bins. I made a pile of priority items for CJ's survival as a bachelor in our new home: pots, water filter, sleeping bag, canned soup, towels, shower curtain & other basics. CJ calculated the weight & balance for the C-182 & began the careful loading process. CJ took off around 6:00pm & arrived safely in Port Alsworth around 7:45. He said the flight was beautiful & that he enjoyed the first glimpses of our new town. Two of his new co-workers were there to meet him when he landed & kindly helped him unload the plane to the house. CJ said the blue house is adorable & that I will love it. I can't wait to see for myself! For now Teco & I are still at the Ranch taking care of canceling our utilities & insurances in Virginia & busy finding new things to spend our money on. I did reserve a rental parking spot at Merrill Field today for our Subaru, so I am considering today's to do list a success.

We left Whitehorse, Yukon yesterday morning after a good breakfast at Tim Horton's doughnut shop. The weather started off cloudy but it was not long before the sun popped out & we had a beautiful day. The final 200 miles or so in Canada were very bumpy & we had stuff all over the camper by the end of the day. We saw a lot of doll sheep in the morning & a moose. For lunch we stopped at Pick Handle Lake while Teco trotted around the shoreline - it was beautiful!
Just after lunch we saw a BIG grizzly bear just off the side of the road. It wasn't long after we crossed into our new home state of Alaska! We rolled into Tok, Alaska & had dinner at Fast Eddy's with Paul & his wife. We went to Paul's daughter's new cabin & Dwayne showed us the first house he ever built.
After dinner, we drove South to Glennallen. We got a guided tour of Dwayne's old stomping ground via the hand radio. We stopped at John & Cathy King's house & played with their kids, Jeremiah & Canyon. Cathy served us Moose dogs & we enjoyed great fellowship with them Tuesday evening.

We had a late start today from Liard Hot Springs & it was snowing big flakes when we woke up. Autumn felt horrible. We went through rain & snow all morning We saw buffalo, caribou, & a red fox. We passed Muncho Lake & it was beautiful!
For lunch we pulled over & made sandwiches in the RV. Not long after we got back on the road Dwayne radioed us saying he needed a nap. We took a "quick" power nap (about 1 hour). I got bored so I walked Teco around & then jumped in the RV to grap a Pepsi. Before I knew it, the RV was moving, so I quickly jumped out & shut the door & we all started laughing!
We stopped in Teslin to see a SEND couple (Derick & Jenny Baker) & had fellowship with them for about two hours. Jenny felt sorry for Autumn & gave her a new box of Kleenex for the road. It was great, but it put us behind a bit. We made it just shy of Whitehorse & decided to call it a night.

Saturday night we met a friendly Canadian, Stew, at the RV Park. He was making a living out of his RV as an oil field welder on the new rigs in Dawsons Creek.  He invited us for huge ribeye steaks, pickled garlic, and crushed jalapeno peppers.  We met Dwayne & Caroline after dinner & opted not to do any more driving that night.
Sunday morning we had devos in the trailer & started our journey on the Alaska Highway. We ran into some snow before Fort Nelson & saw a big black bear on the side of the road. We stopped at Boston Pizza in Fort Nelson & CJ fetched some medicine. I had a fever, soar throat, and runny nose. We drove through some big mountains after lunch & went through the most dangerous part of the trip, Steamboat Ridge. Good amounts of snow was accumulated on the ground & falling. We saw lots of buffalo.
Sunday night we camped in the RV at Liard Hot Springs. We are so thankful for the Kings & the RV because there are no motels around. The RV park wasn't open yet for the summer, so we mad do with just the water in our tank & no electricity. No shower for us tonight. CJ & Dwayne however went swimming in the hot spring & came back smelling of sulfur. I was too sick to go swimming.

Today we slept in a bit! We are scheduled to meet Dwayne & Caroline King tonight at mile 0 on the Alaska Highway. The Alaska Highway starts in Dawson Creek, so we are just killing time until then. This morning we had a leisurely continental breakfast & put some miles on the hotel treadmill. We requested a late check out & combed downtown Dawson Creek for a hang out spot. We found a perfect little coffee shop with outdoor seating, which is where I am now. We are going to hit the art gallery & Alaska Highway historical places before the evening.

Tonight Lord wiling we will cross paths with the Kings & caravan north with them to Ft. Saint John for the night. We remember this town well from getting weathered in there last summer for two nights on our flight in the C-182. There isn't much to see there that we haven't already explored.

It is unlikely we will have internet access again since we will be spending nights in the Kings motor home, but if we do I will be sure to update. For now, our plan is to arrive at King Ranch in Palmer, AK by Wednesday night. Please continue to pray for our safe travels, especially as we will be crossing the Canadian Rockies these next few days & crossing the border again to the United States.

Total Expected Driving Time: 1.5 hours