 Success! All four walls are up and secured in place. We are building upwards! This week Pete built and raised all four walls by himself.
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 Floor joists and stringers in place. Yikes! About two weeks since our last post. The focus on the cabin, chores and exploring have consumed our time in these weeks. I suppose it's fair to say we didn't come here to sit on the computer or watch TV!
 Hatcher Pass views on the side of the road. We received a bit of rain and cooler temperatures this past week which was a blessing!
 Millicent the moose that frequents our property. She has no kids, long legs and long lashes--what a female! In the photo she is standing in our future garage on the house. This week Pete rented the mini excavator for another couple of days. We used it to dig a trench to extend the septic line from the RV pad to the site of the future cabin, about 40'. I tried operating the mini excavator and quickly found out it takes a bit of practice to accurately dig a narrow trench.
 About 9PM on the property. The sun doesn't set until around 11PM. Alaska has the slowest summer sunsets! This past week involved some more decision making and restructuring of build plans. We decided to turn the wash house into a livable cabin for the winter.
 30 of these loads came to deliver the pit run. Another week has flown by in the blink of an eye here in Alaska. We finally rode out the record setting temperatures which ended on Wednesday. It's such a relief in so many ways to have cloudy days and temps down into the low 70s and 60s.
 How quickly can I reach that refreshing looking snow across the valley? The harsh sun at the top of the hike had me wishing for snow in July, but it was just out of my reach! My favorite holiday was this week: the 4th of July. To celebrate, we took a break from our usual work around the property and went on a hike and planned a nice meal.
 Pete setting up the come-along in the background to coax down a stuck tree that fell halfway. Bear doesn't seem too concerned by dad's hard work! We are wrapping up our first month in Alaska and we are still feeling fantastic!
 "Crazy Frank" demonstrating how to fell this large tree. He was using what he called a 'fancy bread slicer' (garden saw) versus Pete's larger Stihl chainsaw. It was fun to watch Frank teach Pete. After this tree, they dropped many more that morning without error. Pete rented a Kubota mini excavator for the past week to clear about 6,000 square feet on the property. We now have a large stack of logs ready to dry about 7-8ft tall. Logs are birch and spruce that was killed by the spruce beetles.
 Rez got to see the ocean for the first time in his life. This scenic outlook is about a mile or so from our place, called the Cook Inlet. First week of living in Alaska and it feels great!
 Mini house for the generator coming along. Rez thinks it's his new home. Another good nights rest in the bus. After 9 days of driving combined with the relief of being home allowed everyone, including the dogs, to sleep soundly.
 Driving within 70 miles of home! No time to stop, though the excitement was overflowing! Enjoyed a delicious breakfast at the cafe in the Sourdough Campground. Reindeer sausage, eggs, sourdough pancakes, biscuits and gravy.
 We made it back into Alaska! Home stretch! Strawberry pancakes for breakfast. Drove through Kluane National Park in the morning. Saw two year-old grizzly bears next to the road. Bear and moose scat very frequently in the road.
 Unmarked pullout in the Yukon. We saw one Canadian moose the whole trip and it was just before this pit stop. Bus needed a jump start this the morning. Suspected the cooler temperatures to be the cause. Ran into the longest stretch of construction on the trip, about 10 miles of caravanning through dust and mud. We drove from Nugget City, YK to Pine Lake Provincial Park which is situated to the east of Haines Junction, YK. Canada's Provincial Parks are equivalent to our state parks. We saw about 7 elk, one moose, a bald eagle and a free range horse (haha).
 We made it! Blue skies, lots of bison and mostly smooth roads. We left Fort Nelson, BC around 10:15AM. We had scheduled a long day of driving. Saw some beautiful sights so we stopped at various turnouts to take photos, stretch legs, bathroom breaks and to eat. We went through Steamboat Pass and Summit Pass (both elevation of over 4,000ft) which were the highest scheduled summits on the trip. Also stopped at Muncho Lake to take photos and stretch.
 Dash views from the bus passing a logging truck in northern British Columbia. Blue skies and smooth sailing on these roads! Woke up early to drive to Kal Tire in Dawson Creek, BC. We ate some breakfast, brushed our teeth and let the dogs stretch and sniff around while we waited. All of our tire problems were solved by 10AM for about $30 - Shoutout to Kal Tire!
 Good morning from Mile 0 of the Alaskan Highway! Ready for the next leg of British Columbia. Stocked up on food in Edmonton in the morning along with picking up differential fluid. Pete made quick work of adding more differential fluid and we were back on the road at a decent time.
 The bus at our campsite in Edmonton, AB. Left Lethbridge, AB around 11am. Stopped for lunch and fuel near Calgary, AB. Rained a bit there--free car wash on the road! That night, we stayed at another nice campground on the outskirts of Edmonton.
 Bear, King of the Road & Pete's Co-Pilot We departed Lewiston, MT mid morning. Crossed into Canada at the Sweetgrass, MT border crossing. Not a single issue at the border.
 The bus and Subaru made it to Montana in one piece! This was our campsite at the East Fork Dam near Lewistown, MT. We departed Aberdeen, SD at 9am. Today is scheduled to be our longest drive to Lewiston, MT, about 600 miles. Quick pit stop at Mina, SD to check and secure loads. Stopped in Mobridge, SD for lunch, gas and hardware store.
 This is a map of our 3,000+ mile route. Follow the stops we made in each town to camp over night in the blog! We spent hours loading the bus and the Subaru. Though we had laid out and organized everything days in advance, it took a lot of muscle and Tetris skills to load the vehicles.
 Pete installing the switch that connects from the battery to the inside of the cab. Today is the day we officially began our major prep work for our journey to our new home in Alaska. We've had the Alaskan itch for a couple years now and it's so exciting to see it take shape.
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AuthorHello, I am Melissa, owner of Wild North Design. Recently, my husband and I decided to pick up and move to Alaska. This dream has been a couple years in the making and we are enjoying the journey so far. We love to learn and make all kinds of things. From wood craft, to painting, to vehicles, landscaping, building, exploring...we love it all! We are finding out that Alaska is a great fit for our restless minds and bodies! Excited for what the future holds for our expanding family! Archives
August 2021
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