Bears, goats and buffalo

Hello all,

It is late and we are all very tired, even Hogan : ). The doggie sedatives have been working although he still tries to get in the front seat with me from time to time.

WE have left British Columbia behind us and are now in the Yukon Territory. If I had to guess the population of this town it would be 50, maybe. It has become comman place now to run into people from the U.S. I find it quite funny that we have run into two different sets of people from Alabama. The first couple from AL we very stand off-ish and we found it hard to believe that they were really from AL but, that's what their license plate said. The other couple from AL that we met were much more talkative and a lot more like the jovial people that Alabaman's are known for.

Today we were rewarded with some great wildlife scenes. After the 3rd herd of mountain goats we stopped slowing down and taking pictures. But wait, next it was the buffalo and THEN the bears. WOW, it was so cool to see all these animals out in the open and not behind fences.

Tomorrow we be our last night in Canada, on Thursday we will re-enter the U.S!!!!!

Sorry I haven't been as creative with the blog but, all the sitting on my butt is not only giving me the secretary spread in my behind but, also in my brain.

Please know that we miss you all and are very thankful to have you supporting us.

Going Rogue

On our way out of Ft. St. John we did our normal routine of getting gas and stocking up on drinks. The 2 young kids working the gas station started a conversation with us about where we were from. One stated that he could tell we weren't from around "here" b/c of the way we talked. We told him we were from the states and were moving to Alaska. I asked him if he had ever been to AK and he said "once for 5 minutes and he was scared b/c there was a gun store right over the border." The other clerk replied that she lived in the states for 2 years and she too was also scared b/c the store she worked in (in the states) had a gun under the counter. Andy and I both thought this was very funny.

The scenery changed somewhat today, and if it was possible we may have seen even more RV's than the day before. What we noticed was, A LOT less farms and A LOT more trees. However the trees we very tall, extremely skinny, and less furry than the one's we were used to seeing.

All the sudden the sky turned black and it looked like rain but, it was actually bugs hitting the windshiled. Then we saw what looked like snow on the shoulder and in the median. We realized it was freshly fallen hail. Next we noticed an overturned SUV on the other side of the road. Obviously we had missed a hellacious storm, thank god. It did rain some but nothing like what we think happened.

We are now in Ft. Nelson, BC and noticed a SUV with a Virginia license plate. Turns out that the family of 6 (including one's mother) are in route to Anchorage with the U.S. Air Force. They had been staying at the same hotels as us except for they were one day ahead of us and had to take and break and are spending two nights here in Ft. Nelson. We learned that there are hot springs on our way to our next stop. We can not wait to jump in and relax our muscles. I can only imagine what NASCAR drivers feel like after a race.

As far as the rest areas, they have been downsized to almost Port o potty status along the 2 lane road; which is sometimes lined/marked and sometimes not lined.

The distance is getting shorter but the price of food and drink is getting MUCH higher. The family of 6 we talked to bought a pound of balogna and is was $22 canadian dollars, which is roughly $21 US dollars.

Whole Lot of Nothing

Dear Mr. Sunshine,

It is 11:30 at night and you (the sun)are just about to go to sleep. WOW, seeing is believing (see pictures that were taken b/w 10 and 11 pm tonight)! We are in Ft. St. John, British Columbia tonight.

Not much to talk about tonight as we saw a lot of oil wells, FARMS, cattle and some buffalo AND A WHOLE LOT OF NOTIN.

I LOVE Canada (the parts that are populated) and Andy likes Canada but, hates the speed limits.

We are ready to settle in for the night and didn't want to neglet our followers. We love and appreciate our friends and family.

Big Hugs and kisses

Tinkos and canines

Buffalo Jump

Hello all!

I begin by stating that we had a bark free night last night in Lethbridge. Tonight (Friday) we gave the front desk our cell phone number in case the dogs caused a ruckus and upon returning we were told there were no complaints : )

My second topic, the metic system; why must the US be different??!! I have traveled all over the world and it has never bothered me as badly as now. I believe one reason is that the speed limit is so damn slow. The fastest posted speed limit in Alberta is 110km, which is 68 mph. We have yet to feel comfortable enough to "test the waters" as to how far we can go over without getting a ticket. No worries though, we have plenty of time to get to Kodiak and no office hours to keep, for a while anyway.

We have noticed tons of modern day Windmills (picture posted). I may do research on this to see how efficient this is.

Has anyone ever heard of a Buffalo Jump? We were very curious why there were so many signs for "Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump." So I took a couple of pictures of the sign and have now learned what the signs meant and I don't like it. It is the way the primitive people chased buffalo up the cliff and let them jump and take their own lives rather than having to kill them by whatever other means they had. Uggghhhh

ON to happier things. Edmonton is AWESOME. It is the most pedestrian friendly city I have ever been in. I took Hogan for a run and think I actually confused the drivers by waiting on the edge of the pedestrian walk. Vehicles actually slow down when they see someone approaching a ped crossing; I am so not used to this. I don't know how many times in Atlanta, I would have become a statistic if I decided to cross the road just b/c I had the right of way.

One other thing I love about Canada is their rest stops. Every rest stop has a museum and really nice snack bars in them. In Lethbridge the museum was cars and in Red Deer the museum was a sports hall of fame. Since we have 4 more stops in Canada, I can report back on this.

Tomorrow, Saturday, we are on to Ft. St. John.

P.S.

Go USA and if a goal is a goal; it's a goal gosh darn it!!!

Farms, farms, FArms and more farms

I have a question for all of you out there. Has anyone ever eaten an entire meal that they hated and then asked for your money back? Here is how the day started off....................

The previous night we had returned from dinner at 9pm and there was a message from the front desk. The desk clerk says another room had complained about our dogs barking, which I don't doubt. She said that if the complainers decide to leave we have to pay for their room. I said "ok we understand and we are home and are NOT leaving for the rest of the night." I called back an hour later and she had heard nothing from them.

Upon checkout, Andy is told that the complainers complained again at the front desk (about last night) and were refusing to pay for the room and we needed to pay for it. Andy was shocked and has decided to take it up with their corporate office. So, they stayed there and the dogs did not bark after 9pm; isn't that like eating a meal and then asking for your money back?

So we have decided that we have let some people cheat the system and karma will come back to them.

We continue to see TONS of antilope along the way, they are pretty cute but, I haven't been able to grab a photo of them b/c we are always driving to fast. Farms, farms and more farms is really all we have seen. I can't even begin to imagine how many acres these people own. But, the really rich person is the one that owns the sky. I really mean it when I say the sky is HUGE out here.

On to the border......

We have made it across the border into Canada and the dogs did NOT bark at the agent! It was your typical border crossing experience; except for when I walked across the border into Tijuana. The border agent was pretty cool and semi funny. He was mainly concerned with us bringing weapons or amo in. Hand guns in Canada are illegal and we were not breaking the law so we were off.

We are in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada tonight. Tomorrow we are traveling to Edmonton!!! I am so looking forward to Edmonton.

Andy is crashed and he is my picture uploaded so we do not have pics yet of our border crossing. But, I will leave you with more pics from The Badlands and some of that really rich guys sky.

Peace, love and happiness

Humidity gone but, not forgotten

I have to be honest; Andy and I have no idea what day it is. The cool weather and added hours of light are totally throwing us off; amongst other things. I feel like I am 80 years old talking about the great weather but, I really do want/need to brag. I have not seen the temp in our truck go over 80 since we left St. Louis.

Okay, to refresh my memory I last left "y'all" after our wonderful day of eye candy (The Corn Palace, The Badlands, The President's and the Prarie Dogs). The next day (Wed) we drove from Rapid City, SD to Bozeman, MT. If any of you have any inner hippie in you, you have heard of Bozeman, MT.

Back to the drive. Yesterday reminded me of the song that goes something like, "where the dear and the antelope plaaaay." I have never seen so many antelope in all the years I have lived.

We were lucky enough to come upon Crow Native Days in Crow Agency, MT. Established in 1990 to promote and provide the Apsaalooke youth w/ Drug and Alcohol Free activites. The highlight is the Ultimate Warrior Challenge, a foot race, canoeing and a relay horse race. After I obtained the pamplet, that I am getting my info from, I realized we witnessed the Horse relay race. It really was cool! Another thing I am reading from the pamphlet is the Vice-Chairman's name is Calvin Coolidge Jefferson; you should see his head dress. (Damn, I wish I had a color scanner like the one I had when I was employeed at Shapiro)!!!!

Bozeman is a great town in the Summer and I hear a great ski town in the Winter. I have to give a big shout out to MacKenzie River Pizza Co for their great pizza and beer. It reminds me a lot of the south where everyone says hello and if you ask for directions or a suggestion of a place to eat; it is a 5 minute conversation (or maybe it's just that I wanted to talk)

I am hoping that Kodiak is a lot like Bozeman after all a native of Kodaik told me that it is "Just like Key West but, with colder weather"

Prarie Dogs, Presidents and Badlands

We are so excited that we have people that are actually reading this and enjoying our trip with us.

The internet in our hotel is very spotty so this entry will be a bit shorter than the previous ones.

Our day started off by doing a drive by of The Corn Palace. It is a venue of sorts that holds concerts and sporting events. Each year they decorate the outside of the venue with different murals made out of corn. It is one of a kind to say the least.

Next we went to the dawgs. We stopped at a Prarie Dog santuary (is my best guess). It was really cool to see all the little squirrel like critters interact with their babies and with humans. Hogan and Brandy were not happy with us when we got back to the vehicle.

The next place, we owe a BIG shoutout to Helen Rogers and Andrea Sharpe for bringing this place to our attention; The BADLANDS. It is an unbelievable place that words can not describe. It is a bit like the Grand Canyon. I don't know why this place is not the 8th wonder of the world. I wish we could have camped and climbed all over the "peaks." Again, truly an amazing place.

Last but not least.............................Mt. Rushmore. WOW, this too is entertainment for the eyes. The town getting to Rushmore, Keystone is a mini downtown Gatlinburg; including a 7 foot live wrangler. The wrangler walks around town with a gun and a whip trying to "set the mood" I guess.

We are in Rapid City tonight and feel like we have just take a few steps back into the late 70's. Our hotel room tonight is by far the smallest one we have been in, hopefully this will get us up and out earlier tomorrow morning since we have an 8 hour drive to Bozeman, MT.

We are looking forward to having a few beers in Bozeman.

And the Beat Goes On

At the start of the day I heard an old Traffic song (Steve Winwood) on the radio "Low Spark" so how could today not be a great day, right? But, we couldn't get out of Topeka fast enouugh; the weather started to look threatening and with it being a Monday, the town was still deserted. There was so few people downtown that Andy managed to make a left hand turn from the right hand turn lane with only having to wait for one car to go through the light.

One thing that we have noticed driving through the Plains is the amount of standing water in the middle of crop fields as well as all bodies of water are over their banks. I guess we picked the right week to come through!!! Another thing we have noticed is how the land is so flat and then all the sudden a hillside appears but, all the farm land is gorgeous.

Another rest stop has been adeed to the top of our list and not b/c of the toilets! There was a HUGE Pet Area that was big enough to through ball with the Chuck - it (tennis ball launcher) for Hogan. We also noticed a very funny sign that said "No smoking on the grounds except for in enclosed personal vehicles"

I have come to realize that every major town we go to is getting smaller and smaller; maybe this is gods way of preparing me for Kodiak, population of 12,000. The temperature was great today; I never saw the thermometer get over 83 degrees, again maybe it is Devine Intervention.

Tomorrow we are headed to The Bad Lands and Mt. Rushmore.

Lots of love

Julie McCoy and Captain Stubing

Topeka......wow

Greetings from Topeka, Kansas,

Andy and I are very shocked as to how deserted downtown Topeka is for a city that is so clean. I wanted to go for a run but, wasn't sure if it was safe for me to since there is NO ONE on the streets. I did go for about a 2 mile walk and pretended that I was talking to someone on the phone the whole time.

The hotel where we are staying is an old 3 story apartment complex that has been converted into a hotel. I am tempted to ask the clerk at the desk how many "suites" are rented tonight. I did ask her about the Capital City being deserted and she said it is a ghost town on the weekends. Well, the bonus is they have free laundry facilites and WI-FI AND it's pet friendly. I wonder when we upload the pictures of the building if we will have Norman Bates in the background of any of our photos.

Somewhere inbetween St. Louis and Topeka we came upon a Stuckey's and we had to stop and look for Andy's sisters' favorite candy. No luck on the candy but, I did have a nice (but short) conversation with a fellow on his way home to Nebraska from Norfolk, VA. He had been in the Navy for 6 years and decided that he would go back to the family farm and work rather than face being "a reduction in force statistic." Funny thing I observed about him was what he was buying. One of those fake Mexican or Native American poncho's and something that reminded me of a "Plastic Jesus type" of figureen that would ride on the dash board of his car. Remember, we are at Stuckey's!!!! One stop shopping, I guess.

The dogs are being great. The only complaint that I have is that everytime a door slams in any of the hotels we have been in they "alert us." But, they are getting better.

No pictures to upload today b/c the card reader is in the truck and it is down 3 flights of stairs and we are tired.

Some things to note that I have forgotten to mention

---At one rest area in KY they have a picnic area and WI-FI zone (outside)
---A Biofuel station in Missouri
---There is a town named "Mexico" in Missouri
---No restaurants west of Kentucky have sweet tea; Andy is hating it.
---Realized when passing a military convoy give them the thumbs up sign NOT the peace sign.

Let us know if you are listening/reading this whether it be on facebook or if you become a "follower"

Tomorrow (Monday) we will be in S. Dakota. Tuesday we are going to Mt. Rushmore!!!

Happy trails

Nancy, Andy and 2 furry friends

Black gold aka Texas Tea

Day 2 of our trip is behind us! We started off from Lexington, KY, which was a great place. As we traveled up I-64 we noticed a fellow Coastie in uniform driving with VA tags on his Mustang. Then we realized another truck in front of him, that he was obviously following, that had VA tags that was carrying a full bedroom suit. Through deductive reasoning we figured out the fellow Coastie was a 3rd class who was on his way to The Louisville Station to report for duty. No, we did not try to get his attention. I'll have to say, Indiana is some of the most beautiful country side I have seen in a while. Then on to IL, which had a nice prarie view as well. As we got closer to Missouri we noticed the rivers were especially high and tons of debries floating down stream. I had no idea that IN and IL were such oil rich states (relatively speaking); every farm I saw had workding oil dikes on them. To be honest I didn't even know what one was until I asked Andy what those see - saw things were in the middle of the farms. Finally we arrived in St. Louis-----and we of course had to go see the Gateway to the West. WOW! What a great park and monument. Unfortunately it was an hour and a half wait to get to the top and we had he dogs with us so we decided just to admire the beauty of it. We decided to drive a little further outside of St. Louis to Foristell, MO population is 331, we have learned. We went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner where a "waspy" looking female showed us our table (sign # 1 we shouldn't have stayed). Our waitress even had blond hair and blue eyes and probably didn't even knwo how to say "yes" in spanish! Anyway, the food was definitely pushing below average. Score; we have free HBO!!! But, Harry Potter is on : ( I finally realize what The Allman Bros were saying when they sang "Last Sunday Morning, the Sunshine Felt Like Rain" We are definitely ready to get to Alaska and cool off!!!

497 miles down

Greetings from Lexington, KY. The BlueGrass State

Where we just found out that there is a gun show in town; everyone got their tickets? Seriously, more about that later.

All gather round for story time from The Days Inn & Suites. We can now check day one off of our calendar. We started out from my parent's house in Chesterfield, VA (Home of The Man #11 Denny Hamlin) and headed west through WV and ended up in KY. There is not a whole lot of scenery in any of the states that we were in. But, none the less, every state has its own beauty.

We decided to play a game as to how many different state license plates we would see; the total number is; 28 but, none from Alaska!!!

We went to dinner at Horseshoe's Saloon and Steak House on the property of our hotel. It is one of those places where you walk in and the needle is dragged across the record. The place ended up being a huge hidden treasure. It is just kind of scary when the person waiting on you is wearing a bright yellow t shirt saying "security."

Also at dinner we learned about the gun show in town. We met the owners of www.pistolpackingmammas.com whom said they have a special nylon and leather holster for my pistol when we get to Kodaik and I want to go for a run. The 2 ladies were sipping on Jeager and the guy was sipping on a Bud Lite!!! Go figure. Oh, did I mention they were from Gwinnet County, GA; needles to say Nancy had a lot in common with them!

Very tired tonight as you can tell, tomorrow will be a more exciting post from the Gateway to the West.


Nancy, Andy and 2 canines!

p.s.
Can't wait to get to the hotel that told us dogs are allowed but not on the bed!!!!

Virgin Bloggers

Greeting and salutations,

This is my and Andy's first attempt at blogging. We will begin our journey to Kodiak, Alaska starting on Friday June 18th so please be patient with us; yep I just said the word patience. (Now if I could just practice what I preach).

We are currently in VA visiting friends, family and in laws. Here is a picture of our dogs in Urbana, VA. We have passed Andy's boat along to his parent's for safe keeping while we are gone. Hopefully they will get more use out of it than Andy did. (I kid)!

To refresh every one's memory, we are moving to Kodiak, AK for 3 years with Andy's job. We will be driving to our new home with our two dogs Hogan and Brandy in our 4 door Toyota Tundra. We are expecting the trip to take 14 days. Andy just got his truck serviced today, received new brakes, got the oil changed and tires rotated. The mechanics also hooked it up to the computer and he was told there are no other foreseeable problems. We will be blaming Mechanicsville Toyota (where Andy's brother in law works) if we have any problems along the way. lol

Stand by for blogging from the Blue Grass State.