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Up Ship Creek

-----Our free day in Anchorage was by no means one of simple rest and relaxation, as there was research and reservations and hike planning for the days to come, from our journey to Whittier and Homer tomorrow all the way through our return to Whitehorse in a week's time. It was also the last available day to do laundry until we return to the contiguous 48, a process which took the remaining hours of both the morning and the early afternoon. While this went on, my mom took great pleasure in tak

Sumiki

Sumiki

Valley of Demonic Chickens

-----We were able to sleep in, and for us, "sleeping in" means 8:00. I never thought I'd be a morning person, but I guess my circadian rhythm has always been on Alaska time. We walked to the site of our epic dinner the previous night for a breakfast of champions, and the buffet spread they had was the greatest breakfast I've had. I'm not normally a breakfast kind of guy and I can't name the last non-trip day in which my first meal was something other than lunch. But every component of the ho

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Sumiki

Mining Our Business

-----It was 7:20 when we left Denali and took the Parks Highway southbound amidst frigid temperatures that reached freezing for a while. Our goal was to get to the town of Talkeetna before 10:00 for the possibility of a flight around the south side of Denali. While forecasts for Talkeetna and McKinley Park indicated clear skies, Denali itself was projected for snow. But weather changes on a dime in the Last Frontier, and we would kick ourselves if we canceled without giving it a shot.   -----Mor

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Sumiki

In the Frozen Cathedral

-----As if 6:00 was bad enough, we got up today at 5:00 and left for the park by 6:15 to be there thirty minutes ahead of our 7:00 shuttle, the first into the park. The buses go as far into the park as they can, and we were somewhat concerned of how far they'd be able to go because when we got up, there were snow flurries in a frigid 37º. It was hardly an inch of buildup, but there was buildup.   -----We got into our bus, which was around half-full when it was all said and done, and learned th

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Sumiki

Accidental Trailblazers

-----6:00 in the morning—our newest frequent wakeup time—saw us ready to go a little after 7:00. Our first stop of the day was at a Safeway in Fairbanks to replenish our supply of water, which didn't take that long save for checking out; the store was still opening and there were only a few self-checkout lanes open, which slowed us a bit, but we weren't getting massive amounts. We found a spot in which to stuff the water supply and we hit the road on the Parks Highway southbound.   -----As we

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Sumiki

Looking for Moose

-----Our escapades in riding to the Arctic Circle had left us worn out, and so we slept in quite a bit. After getting up, we used what remained of the morning to do a much-needed couple loads of laundry and a small job of re-packing and re-organizing in the disoriented aftermath of preparing for yesterday.   -----By afternoon, we headed out on the town to find the University of Alaska Fairbanks, home of the Museum of the North. After asking an employee of the museum to direct us to where Denal

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Sumiki

The Gasless Wonders

-----Our alarms went off at our now-usual time of 6:00—10:00 to our Eastern Time-aligned bodies—and we readied and packed and left for the lobby a little before 7:00. Our earliness was a necessity, as the tour van had pulled up before its scheduled arrival at 7:15. We were introduced to our tour guides: the first had moved to Alaska at age 18 and had spent time as a jack-of-all-trades, and the second, who was a dead ringer for Xaeraz's dad, served as a secondary guide when the first needed a bre

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Sumiki

The Christmas Spirit

-----Our alarms went off at 6:00. We snoozed it quite a bit, but by a little after 7:00 we went to Fast Eddy's for breakfast. We wanted to get a small sampling of breakfast goodies in anticipation of a late lunch outside of Fairbanks, and we ordered what we thought was going to be a small meal. We entertained the waitresses with our pre-coffee selves and ordered. What we did not know was that the Eddy's philosophy of Alaska-sized dinners would also be applied to their breakfasts. My two blu

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Sumiki

The Last Frontier

-----We awoke in Whitehorse with a singular goal: reach the Last Frontier. By distance, we had conquered much of the Alaska Highway, but the roughest parts were to come. The Yukon's 511 service, along with the advice proffered by the ladies at the Watson Lake welcome center, told us that the roughest gravel breaks and frost heaves were to be found in permafrost territory north of Destruction Bay.   -----Rain—steady but not hard—dominated the first part of the journey, and the mountain peaks were

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Sumiki

Canada's Idaho

-----A long-awaited sleeping-in session commenced into the morning hours, and upon awakening at around 10:00 we prepared for a day on the town in the Yukon capital. Our first stop was at the Yukon Transportation Museum, which is adjacent to the Whitehorse airport. It's extremely noticeable for the enormous DC-3 perched outside on a pivot, which is their weathervane. We admired it for a while, despite the biting cold wind, before going to the door of the museum.   -----To our surprise, it's no

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Sumiki

Getting Territorial

-----Our alarms went off at 7:00 in the morning, and by eight we were out of our cabin and on the road to the Yukon border. The road out of Toad River led towards more epic mountain peaks, yet somehow the road felt even more desolate than yesterday. We went directly towards the mountain peak that had dominated the sunset last evening and saw ever more incredibly breathtaking vistas as we kept going.   -----We dropped down as the road went around Muncho Lake, a mile wide and seven miles across,

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Sumiki

Land of 10,000 Hats

-----Upon awakening in Fort Saint John, we knew an exciting day of adventure was ahead. Our first full day on the Alaska Highway took us northbound, and once we were clear of the outskirts of Fort Saint John, it was utter wilderness as far as the eye could see. Trees were cleared for many meters around each side of the two-lane blacktop in order to give us a clear sightline towards potential critters.   -----As we went ever north, the temperature did not reach above the high 40s in Fahrenheit

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Milepost Zero

-----The road so far has constituted what is essentially the first leg of the trip: the journey to Milepost 0 of the Alaska Highway. With today we entered what we called "Milepost territory" in that our entire route was contained within the latest volume of the road map collection that prides itself as "The Bible of North Country Travel."   -----8:00 AM saw my dad travel to the dealership in Whitecourt for an oil change and routine inspection that we'd had planned since we were well in the State

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Sumiki

With Apologies to Valendale

-----Our phones, unable to get reception throughout Canada, did not understand that we had effectively entered a different time zone yesterday upon our arrival in Saskatchewan. When setting our alarms for this morning, I remembered to set it an hour ahead of when we actually wanted to get up ... but my mom didn't, and hers went off at half-past six ... so I'm told. (I was still out.)   -----What lay ahead of us was one of our longest drives yet, and it began northwest out of Saskatoon. Prairies

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Sumiki

North of the Border

-----Though Minot is remote, our day's journey was to take us even further afield. Our first stop of the day, after a brief currency exchange, was to the Scandinavian Heritage Park. The Minot area was settled by many Scandinavians, and the park contains statues and buildings erected to honor them. In front of the welcome center—shaped like a large log cabin—was a marble design sprawled across the landscape, showing the five Scandinavian countries and their capitals. Statues of Hans Christian And

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Sumiki

An Uphill Battle

-----Sleeping in in St. Cloud was a great help, and we got up at 8:00 and left by 10:00. We took I-94 westbound and traveled to the Fargo metropolitan area. Our return to Fargo was marked with a return to a Jimmy John's at which we'd eaten on our second trip in 2013. It was not raining this time, which made for an easier journey, and we were able to go the speed limit, which was a whopping 75 MPH.   -----We continued on I-94 due west until we reached the city of Jamestown, where we split nort

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Sumiki

Sumiki's Dad Smuggles Cheese

-----The weekend meant that the Beloit Snappers were closed, which eliminated our first stop of the day before we even got up. In the course of our drive, Illinois soon gave way to Wisconsin, where the drivers were an extra helping of nuts.   -----It wasn't just that the drivers drove with impunity towards life and property, but the real surprise was in that there were simply so many of them. There is nothing of note for long stretches; not even occasional small towns with highway-side gas stati

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Sumiki

Normally Corny

-----A requisite 7:00 wakeup meant we got out of the door at 9:00. We exited Kentucky and entered Indiana for approximately a mile before going back into Ohio, then finally going into Indiana for good. -----While on the way, we contacted the office of the Indianapolis Indians and inquired about the possibility of purchasing a pennant. Although they sell them, they were currently out of stock, which was alright by our itinerary. The traffic around Indianapolis was bad enough; downtown was no

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Sumiki

Actual Hot Dog Shia LaBeouf

-----Our phone alarms went off at seven o'clock in the morning, and after a requisite five minute snooze, coffee was acquired and the day began. We managed to leave Knoxville at 9:00, bearing north for the Kentucky border.   -----Our goal was to get to Cincinnati a little after lunchtime, and the drive was uneventful until we got to the Cincinnati metropolitan area. Our first stop was lunch at Taste of Belgium, an establishment that prides itself on its waffles. It's extremely European; flats

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Sumiki

The Only Ten I See

-----Though many bags were packed and many items checked off many lists at the close of Tuesday, the final steps towards getting out the door still lingered as all items of importance were verified in triplicate. All said, our journey began a little before noon, and we took the road north to Wytheville, Virginia.   -----But we had, since 2013, made a vow to ourselves not to go through the treacherous mountain roads of West Virginia unless absolutely necessary. It was in Wytheville that we turned

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Sumiki

The Great Alaskan Road Trip

-----Alaska has always been a very romanticized place in my mind, as there are very few places in the world that are like it. I've been fascinated by it since I knew of its existence, although at first I just thought it was cool because it was on the same continent as the 48 contiguous states but remained staunchly separate from its kin. Both Alaska's scale and ostensible nothingness intrigued me, especially when I first saw it overlaid on the familiar US outline. It seemed almost too good to be

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DANGIT

*stumbles in*   ... uh   WHERE ARE OUR TELEPORTERS?   *stumbles out*   *offstage teleporter explodes*

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Sumiki

recent events

I have had a great many thoughts about what has happened to my country, and disappointment is but the tip of my emotional iceberg. Here is not the place for my full thoughts.   I will say this, though:   Good things have happened, and good things will continue to happen. That is the one thing that must not, for our own good, ever be forgotten, and our commitment to remembering the good mustn't be abandoned. Hope must always spring eternal, for the good of humanity, and our collective hope mus

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