Surprise! We're off to Alaska. Jim's Achilles Tendon is doing so good we decided 10 days ago to visit Alaska again. It was a scramble to get ready. Close up the house, pack the trailer, arrange for a gardener, etc. Just when we thought we were all set the truck started acting up. The repair estimate was $9800!!!!!!!!! (OMG) So there goes the vacation. Then we tried the Dodge dealer's shop and they found a bad booster chip for less than $200. Then the kitchen slide out would not close so Jim dragged the trailer to Chico to see what was wrong. HOORAY! It was only a loose screw (not Jim, the trailer.) We began to wonder if someone was trying to tell us something.

But here we are, four days into our trip. On the drive north we made an over night stop in Puallup to see our son Dan and family. The next day we stopped in Bellingham to see granddaughter Alyssa.  After a quick lunch in Fairhaven with Alyssa we were back on the road and headed for Hope, British Columbia.

Last time we went to Alaska we drove the Dalton Highway all the way to the Dead Horse and the Arctic Ocean where we took the Polar Bear dip. As you may know, the road was made famous by the TV show - Ice Road Truckers. This time we are driving the Dempster Highway in Canada's Northwest Territories all the way to Inuvik. The Dempster is Canada's Ice Road. Hope to take another dip in the Arctic Ocean.

While we are in Alaska our daughter Sherry and her husband Jimmy will be flying up to join us in Anchorage. We'll spend two weeks in Valdez, Seward and Hope (on the Kenai Peninsula.) Should be a lot of fun! Tomorrow we'll be in Smithers. More tomorrow night.