6 Days in Canada

From Anchorage, we drove to Tok, AK which is 93 miles from the Canadian border. This first day of driving was eventful, and not in a fun way. Even though we had given both our cats gabapentin to calm their nerves, Hershel was a mess- throwing up and dry heaving the first hour of the drive. We didn’t make the cats stay in their carriers, so we left them open. We found out quickly that Hershel did much better when on my lap or at my feet on the passenger side. Beans settled in pretty quickly and slept in his carrier or just behind the center console.

The last 2 hours of our drive to get to Tok, it started snowing. Like “blizzard” snowing. Needless to stay, I was driving slow and had a firm grip on the wheel which was mentally exhausting. We finally made it to the only motel in Tok – Young’s Motel. We ate dinner and breakfast at the diner next door called Fast Eddy’s, before starting our second day of driving to get into Canada. After 93 miles, we reached the Canadian border with all of our documents ready to go. We were the only ones in line, and crossed into Canada within 10 minutes.

We rarely saw any other cars or trucks on the highway. My biggest fear during this roadtrip was running out of gas, so any time we passed a gas station, we filled up no matter what the gas tank was at. There is also ZERO cell service, so we had to download the map on our phones before starting the trip, or else we would be SOL…I tried not to think about how remote we were from anyone or anything. We rolled into Whitehorse, Yukon and stayed at a Quality Inn. This was my least favorite stop of the entire journey. If we could’ve kept driving, I would have preferred to, but it just didn’t make sense to keep going.

We woke up and grabbed Tim Hortons coffee and donuts before gassing up and hitting the road to Muncho Lake. The drive from Whitehorse to Muncho Lake was filled with wildlife sightings. We saw a huge herd of bison, wild horses, and whitetail deer. There were bison on the highway, so we had to slow down until they crossed. We were grateful for sunny weather and no snow! This drive was also in the Northern Rockies, so the roads became more narrow and windy, making us drive much slower.

We reached our lodging for the night at Northern Rockies Lodge. This lodge is very remote, but there was a handful of families traveling through and staying at the lodge. We stretched our legs by walking around the grounds and taking in the picture-perfect views of the mountains. The lodge was very cozy and had great food! We ordered room service for dinner and watched some cable TV before we went to bed.

We gassed up and made our way to Dawson Creek. I couldn’t wait to be somewhere with civilization and people because it was starting to feel very isolating traveling through such remote parts of the country. Within the first hour of our drive, we passed by a herd of reindeer! They were running across the highway, so we waited for them to pass, but it was very cool seeing them right in front of us! After that, we didn’t see much of anything else until we reached Dawson Creek. We stayed at a Holiday Inn for the night and got some burgers at a local restaurant.

From Dawson Creek, we headed to Edmonton. We were now among other cars and people with cell service, so the anxiety was starting to subside. The cats had gotten used to the routine at this point, so they weren’t causing us any issues. We reached Edmonton and stayed at a Best Western. We were in a busy part of Edmonton, so there was finally options for food! We ate a bar and grill in the West Edmonton Mall where I had the best shrimp tacos of my life.

The last jaunt of our Canadian driving was from Edmonton to Estevan– this would be the longest day of driving since starting the roadtrip at 613 miles. We drove through prairie land where it was windy and shaking the car at times. We saw no wildlife or scenery, making for a very long day. We reached our hotel, another Best Western, in Estevan and ate at a local bar and grill across the street. We went to bed exhausted but looking forward to the next day when we would finally be entering the US again.

Estevan to the North Portal entry was only a 25 minute drive. We had our documents ready and waited in line behind semi trucks and other travelers for about 20 minutes. We entered into North Dakota very shortly after we began our drive from Estevan to Minneapolis, Minnesota. This would be another long day of driving at 617 miles. We felt a sense of relief once we were back in the States and got on the interstate.

7 Days through the US

We arrived to Minneapolis in the evening, checked into our hotel, and ordered food for delivery. The past two days of driving took us out, and we were exhausted. There was light at the end of the tunnel because the next day we would be driving to my parents house in Central Illinois and we would no longer be staying in hotels! We stayed there for two nights to relax for a full day and to see some friends and family. The extra day off from driving was really nice and needed. After a small recuperation, we drove to Toledo, Ohio to stay with my grandma. This was a short drive and I planned on driving the entire way from my parents house, but I could not stay awake, so Chris had to take over.

We made it to my grandma’s and we went out for dinner together, which was nice. After a quick evening in Toledo, we loaded back up and began heading to Chris’ family in Middletown, New Jersey. On the way, we stopped in Youngstown, Ohio to meet up with my best friend, Makenzie, who I hadn’t seen in years since BMT! After a lovely breakfast and coffee together, we made it to NJ and stayed with his family for two nights.

Finally on May 5, we were on our last day of driving to Dover AFB in Delaware. As timing would have it, Chris’ car made it to Baltimore after being shipped from Anchorage 2 weeks prior. We took a small detour to Baltimore so I could drop off Chris to get his car. He followed me from Baltimore to Dover and we arrived just in time for a taco dinner on Cinco de Mayo.