We weren't really that thrilled with the spot, nor the mosquitos, we found in Tok on our way in, so we knew we weren't really aiming to stay near Tok on our way out. The big question was before or after? Our new friends we met in Denali had made suggestion about some national forest on our route but it ended up being about 2 hours before Tok and 40+km detour. The detour didn't bug me, but I wasn't really digging on the 2 hour early stop. That add's the hours to the next day, not ideal.

I had already made some marks on the map for places that looked decent after Tok, closer to the Canadian border. Bri and I decided to risk it and head to those, one in particular, Tetlin National Wildlife refuge.

While I have no doubt the route that was recommended to us would have been amazing as described, I want to say this spot was pretty fantastic. There were four other campers, one of them a cool Unimog. We missed selection of the prime spot right on the water but it ended up being a good thing, I'll get to that in a bit. We still ended up with a nice large spot with a trail down to the water. Far enough away from the other campers to feel a little seclusion.

Like most of our stays at developed camp grounds we took a talk around the camp, talked with a few other campers, and got some great photos of the wrangles range. As we were heading back to camp I noticed a lot of trees had been chopped down. It's been ages since since I'd seen beaver but I noticed and pointed out the tell-tale cone shape of the stumps of the felled trees. We had a warm meal and sat around the fire before tucking in.

The next morning on my way to the restroom I noticed what looked like a tree in the middle of the road near the spot on the water so I walked over to investigate. I was greeted by the owner of the truck & camper coming out to survey the scene. Turns out I was right about the beaver, they'd decided to bring a large aspen which subsequently ended up smashing into the camper in the middle of the night. The damage was light having only dinged the camper and cracked the vent cover on top. I was treated to a story of how they woke to the crash and peaked out a window to find beaver working fervently to dismantle the tree and bring the large branches under the truck and then get the branches stuck under the truck. It sounded like a simultaneously cool and jarring experience.

Kloo Lake

Originally Bri and I had planned to stay in the same spot outside Klaune with the epic views, but the sub-thirty degree temperatures were somewhat daunting. I'm such a baby.

We were also feeling quite spry towards the middle of our drive and we had discussed possibly pushing through Klaune and Haines Junction and make a little extra distance to reduce on a long drive we had the next day. We did pretty well. We were cross referencing spots between  Gaia and iOverlander and found a decent spot on the road to Kasawa Lake but we had so much sun left we decided to take the 17km detour and hit the camp ground.

I'm so glad we did! It ended up being $12(CAD) which wasn't much considering the free fire wood and the view! Its quite a spacious campground which I imagine in the prime season is just packed to the brim. We camped with probably seven other rigs out of fifty three spaces, not a bad spot either, tucked away in a corner with one side being light beachy forest. We had a little path right out the a spot on the beach with a fire ring. The lake was so peaceful this late in the season. In the morning we were even treated to large mass of fog retreating off the lake.

Upper Liard

We got an early start the next morning. Knowing we were going as far as Liard/Watson Lake but I really wanted to get to Liard Hot Springs. Only a minuscule 733km (~455 miles). It. Was. A. Long. Day. But! It's the highlight of the trip for me, only behind Denali. We saw so much wildlife! Four black bear, porcupine, two herds of Bison, Caribou, and eagles. I'm sure I'm missing something. Awesome hardly describes it, but it truly was. We called out to the provincial park at Watson Lake while filling up and the attendant assured us they had plenty of room. It's couple hours out but we felt pretty safe because that's just how we roll. Well after a very wildlife filled last leg we arrived to only three spots left! I couldn't believe it, the spot even ended up being great!

We were most excited for the host springs and it was pretty late, so we decided to live like the twelve year olds we are and made a simple pb&j dinner. We quickly changed and made the short walk to the host springs. Seriously, I was still riding the thrill of so much wildlife on our drive that I wasn't prepared for how great the springs were. Canada really nails their outdoors activities. To say they were recharging is an understatement. We were both feeling pretty stiff after being in the car for so long and such a long day. Those springs relaxed and melted all that away. We ended up soaking for a couple hours; just taking it all in. The sun goes down so late this far north that even at ten pm we could see the other people in the springs. It was a nice reprieve from the encroaching fall and winter. We both were warmed to our very core and still warm while we were getting ready for bed later.

How could it get better!? I'll tell you how! Looking up while brushing your teeth and getting to see the northern lights! What!? I didn't think we'd see them after basically living under cloud cover in all the prime viewing spots and just like the cherry on top we got a nice little treat as we were just recounting how amazing the day was.

Fort Nelson

Once again we decided to let the fates decide on where we'd camp today! We knew we were getting as far as Fort Nelson so we decided we'd see if we wanted to stop around here or if we wanted to push on to some spots we hope we'd find. We made excellent time to Fort Nelson and decided to grab a coffee, snack, and wifi to find somewhere to sleep that night. I really liked the sound of a spot we found, Sikanni Chief Falls. Another detour off the highway but we were once again awarded with a great spot. A user maintained site in a protected area down a 14km forest road. The drive in was simple but fun with a couple pretty large spots that made great use of the tires. We had a huge area to ourselves and still had a bit of light to get in a small hike to the falls. The hike was short but technical given the steep inclines of sandy, rocky terrain that take you down to a rim trail where you can see the falls fairly well but given the multitude of warnings we passed on the way in about steep cliffs and drop-offs decided to skip the smaller single track trails that traced a steep cliff face on one side and a nice 50' drop on the other. With the only thing to grab on to being a sandy tangled cliff face on the one side it seemed a little risky for my blood. Still the view from where we were was beautiful none-the-less.

We made our way back to camp right as the rain started to set in. We were lucky to hike out when we did cause it rained long into the next day, non-stop. Not sure how fun the hike back up the inclines would have been in that weather. Given we were still in bear country, seeing two on the drive that day, we made a quick dinner and cleaned up. This is how much of the trip went due to my overly bear-aware stance on dinners in bear country. Come on, I really don't want to end up on that show "I was Prey".

Dawson Creek

I mentioned the rain already. We got a brief respite when we pulled into Dawson Creek to refuel and grab a couple provisions. We were pushing on past the city a bit to find somewhere to camp. We ended up in a small camp at Kakwa River. So did the rain. All of it. We setup the awning pretty fast and our tarp to deal with a little water issue we started to have when opening the camper shell window in the rain. It worked pretty well but our old tarp needs replacement.

Its at this point I had a mild break down. I was pretty tired, wet, hungry and just generally over the freaking rain. One thing Bri and I learned pretty fast is we work better together when we kinda let each other vent. So she set about doing something only half listening to me throw a tantrum about how tired I was of being wet, like somehow with all my bitching the universe would reward me with dry clothes. I felt better though and both apologized and thanked my lovely wife for letting me work it out, lol.

We walked down to the river in our rain jackets and talked to another camper with a very enthusiastic dog. Quick dinner, cause the grizzly sign put me on edge. Over all the spot was alright even in the dry weather as its not too far off a busy highway and those trucks are loud. But with a little river of water running under the awning it made for a damp chilly evening.

Calgary

I was pretty stoked about this drive since we realized last year that our original route took us out to the prairie and down to Calgary. Why would we miss the opportunity to get to experience Jasper and Banff national parks?

We were still looking at a solid seven hour drive to where we had originally been a campground at around the midway point between the two parks. With photo stops, miscalculated bathroom breaks, and fuel stops ends up clocking in at eight hours minimum. We had a really solid drive through Jasper National Park. The views were amazing even in the pretty dense cloud cover. We stopped for a quick lunch and refuel in the town of Jasper where we spotted a really awesome Land Cruiser 70.

We continued on towards our camp making our way towards the town of Banff but with a forecast of heavy rain I opted for my mulligan card. We had always made room in the budget for a couple discretionary hotels along the route. We're on the tail end of our journey and haven't used any of these. The thoughts of setting the awning up in the rain still fresh in my skin I opted for a rest. The options in the town of Banff are polar in the sense that you're either looking at a hostel or a chalet. I'd rather camp in the rain when presented with a hostel and I wasn't looking to spend that entire budget in one night. We opted to look a few kilometers down the highway and in Canmore found a Holiday Inn that had decent prices for a last minute booking. Bri, master of all that is planning, nailed down a room we could stay dry in. The reservation person offered only a double queen like it was going to be a problem! Is it dry and clean? I'll take the extra bed. I can dry clothes on it.

We checked in a bit later having a room waiting for us we felt we could use a warm meal and since our last hotel didn't have a microwave we decided to track down something after walking through the town a bit. I hoped against all hope we could find a Pho place that offered  a vegan option for Bri. I know she'd been craving it for a while and a huge bowl of hot soup sounded delightful. We found one! I have a lot of great things to say about Canada but not least of all is that we never had trouble finding a meal for Bri.

We've done so much driving and been in the car so often that we've missed quite a few things we would have stopped to do had we more time. It was nice to have this unplanned stop with a warm meal and a warm bed waiting at the end of the road. It really lifted my spirits. It's amazing how days of rain can really bog you down, but a nice long meal where we didn't have to immediately clean up for fear of being mauled to death by bears, was so refreshing.

Imagine our surprise to check into not only a single bed but a deluxe two story suite with a jacuzzi tub. It's hard to argue with those signs. The correct choice was made. The hotel really out did themselves and short of a little issue with some loud neighbors in the middle the night, the stay was great. Not a bad time to call for a do over if I do say.

After an another uneventful border crossing, this time into Alaska, we headed for Tok. Things were still rather gloomy and chilly, so we wanted to find camp as soon as possible. We checked out a couple of spots along the road, and finally settled on the cleanest site, though not the most private.

The first thing we noticed were the giant mosquitos! They were swarming all around us and were huge. Thankfully, Wes had the forethought to order a massive mosquito net that we haven’t even come close to needing up until that point. We quickly draped the net over the open side of the awning. Between that and the Thermacell, we were saved! It was late enough that we just ate, changed, and went to bed. It was cold, but manageable even without a fire.

We woke to a lovely sunrise and managed to get on the road early. On our way out we saw a mama moose and her calf munching on leaves on the side of the road. It was so cool! We stayed far back, took some video, and continued on our way to Fairbanks.

Fairbanks

We made great time to Fairbanks, and luckily our hotel let us check-in early. We arrived at the hotel and were pleasantly surprised by a clean and cozy place. It was right in downtown Fairbanks so we were surrounded by little shops and restaurants; we were even able to walk to lunch! We ate at a cute little Thai place with a vegan menu. Then we walked around, stopping to get coffee and check out a couple gift shops, then headed back to our place to get some laundry done.

Our drive to Denali was fairly short, so we took out time the next morning. We got ready for the day and made our way down to the complimentary breakfast. We then headed across the street and did the river-walk around the Chena River. It took us over a couple of bridges and it was nice to get our and stretch our legs a bit. We headed back, got all packed up, and checked out. We went to the nearest familiar grocery store to get supplies for Tek.

We gassed up and made our way to Denali National Park.

Denali

Teklanika River Campground is the furthest a civilian vehicle can drive into the park. You must stay a minimum of three nights and your vehicle cannot leave your site. Because we didn't want to be stuck at camp for three days, we decided to purchase a Tek Pass. This allowed us to get on the bus and travel the 60-odd miles through to the end of the park.

We ended up with a great bus driver who made stops at every animal we saw. This included nearly ten grizzly bears, several moose, a few heards of caribou, a couple of black bears, and even a lynx! We also got to see Cathedral Mountain and both Denali peaks. It was awesome!

Anchorage

In Anchorage, where I am writing this now, we had a three night stay at a nice hotel. We ended up being guests of the day so we got some free upgrades and breakfast vouchers for our whole stay. We were able to have a good balance of rest and adventure during our time here. Between the weather and the fires going on, we didn't make it out of the city, but we were able to see a lot.

We checked out the Anchorage Museum and had a blast. There was a ton a beautiful artwork, along with a few exhibits featuring different parts of Alaska. We even got to see the limited Death on the Ice exhibit that was all about an exploration crew that mysteriously went missing and perished. I loved this one because there were actual artifacts from the ships that were finally found in 2014, over 160 years after it went missing.

We were able to make it out for a nice dinner at a fun spot, 49th State Brewing Co. It was delicious and cool to experience a local hangout.

The next day we walked and walked all around the city. We saw the state dedication site, a firefighters memorial, the train station, and we walked part of the coastal trail.

This morning we got all cleaned up and are currently doing laundry before heading out to the road. We are making our way back to Tok (hopefully a little farther) after laundry and a quick stop at the store. It's a little bit of a late start to a long day, but we are itching to get back on the road and make our way home.

This will be our last post for a little while as we will be back into Yukon territory and won't have service for a bit. Thank you all for following along! I can't wait to share more photos with you.

-Bri

Cultus Lake

After crossing the border in record time (according to me) we stopped at a rest stop, let family know, touched base with our friends in Kelowna, then started off towards Cultus lake. Honestly I had only read a few reviews online about this location and figured we'd find somewhere close to the lake, I was wrong. Cultus was not so much a lake as a small city, even with is own volleyball courts full of Canadians in board shorts and tanks. Not really our scene. I quickly loaded up Gaia GPS, I already had downloaded BRCMB, and found us a few options on the way up to Chilliwack. Bing, bang, boom we've found a spot right along a creek (what Canadians call creeks would count as raging rivers in Arizona, seriously, like monsoon season flash flood walls of water are call called creeks up here!). We quickly setup camp and got a fire going which was nice after a no-burn in Oregon.

Kelowna

We started up to Kelowna pretty early the next morning. What a drive! We spent a few hours driving up through some pretty steep mountains with amazing views. If you've got to spend this much time in a car I don't think you could ask for a better drive.

We arrived at our camp in the afternoon, checked in, and stopped long enough for a quick shower before heading out to meet up at our friend's robotics shop. We've known this couple for quite some time, but since they moved back to Kelowna from Arizona we had not had a chance to visit. We were looking forward to reconnecting with them and getting to meet their children.

We got to tour a the shop, see some robots swing some stuff around, and showed off our rig before we set off for dinner and a nice walk around downtown Kelowna. The food and company was excellent.

We spent the next day catching up on a few things and getting a load of laundry done before we went to a little place called Kangaroo Creek Farm. It's a small little farm where they have been keeping kangaroos and wallabies. It was nice because we were able to let the kids run around and be kids but also enjoy ourselves.

We parted ways with our friends that night and headed back to our camp. It had started to drizzle that day and continued on and off into the night so we only got to have a small fire.

Hogsback Lake

We try to get out pretty early every day but we wanted to grab one last hot shower before we started to get deeper into the northern portions of B.C. We were still on the road fairly early.

We made a stop in Logan Lake on our way up to grab gas and found a nice surprise across the street in the form of some decommissioned heavy machinery. Seriously, the dump truck and digger were insanely large. Bri could stand inside the rim of the dump truck if they let her. We grabbed a few photos and started off again.

As the day wore on the clouds kept at it. By the time we made it through Prince George it was a steady drizzle, thank God we have the awning, otherwise we'd be miserable. We caught sight of our first black bear from the highway.

We made it to Hogsback fairly late as we stopped more than a few times. The park was deserted except for one other couple who took the most accessible spot at the entrance due to the car they were driving. We were able to take the rougher road up and got the best spot in the house. Right on the water with an amazing view. The rain eased and our spirits were up! We set it all up and got a fire going and just as we started in on our nightly meal we got rained out. So it goes in B.C., me thinks. It's at this time we are starting to notice the drop in temperature as well.

Before we hit the sack we were greeted to some howling from coyotes and were visited by what may have been a cat, a fox, or el chupacabra (we're well out of his range though) during the night. I am unsure as I was getting ready to tuck in when I caught its eyes in the woods. When I redirected the beam back it quickly darted off leaving me to only catch a blurry face and puffy tail.

Bell II

From Hogsback we headed to Bell II deeper into logging country. The drive is starting to get more and more remote but we're still encountering bigger pockets of civilization and ranchers as we pushed on, early in the day. But as we left highway 16 for 37 this changed pretty fast. Gas stations grew less and less frequent and so did the ranches. And as we edged closer and closer to Bell II it was quite clear there really was nothing up here but small communities of 10's and logging outposts. The terrain was growing more and more wild.

We stopped for gas at Bell II Lodge and pulled up Gaia again to find somewhere to sleep for the night. We had a few options ahead of us and explored a bit. We found a great little road that led to a secluded pull off far enough off the highway and tucked back enough behind trees to make us feel alone, which we most definitely were.

It was still drizzling and low clouds hung over the mountains making our spot feel somewhat out of a movie. We had a warm meal, did some mad libs, took tons of photos and tucked in getting cozy in the back of the truck for what would be a damp and cold night.

Upper Liard

We hoped to wake up to clear skies and to see the peaks that had been covered when we made camp. No such luck. We woke up to more rain and bleak skies. Bummer.

We packed up and got warm as we drove on to Upper Liard. Slowly the skies began to clear and it seemed after every turn we were greeted with ever better vistas and expanses of snow covered peaks and deep forest valleys. We even saw our first bald eagle as we pulled over to throw some trash away and grab some water out of the footwell.

But as we edged closer and closer to the Yukon the huge green peaks gave way more rolling hills with smaller trees and in some areas large dead forests. Not the most scenic but how can you complain when you just drove the hundreds upon hundreds of kilometers of Hwy 37!?

It was a very long day and by the time we hit Jnct 37 in the Yukon, Bri and I didn't feel like backtracking the route to Upper Liard cause it meant that much longer of a drive the next day. We pulled up Gaia again and found our options, cross referencing with a couple other apps we use to find camps. We found one that looked okay and we "saved" as a backup. Another lead brought us to what we thought would be an amazing spot but ended up being a giant time sink. It was the most heavy off roading we've done. Having to move fallen aspens or hold them up as the truck passed under. Or passing through paint mutilating narrow bushes. Only to get to what we deemed to be too risky of a mud pit. Had we been brighter in the eyes and not so drenched we may have tried to push through it but I felt like we'd made too many mistakes already and some times you have to call it before you start making even worse decisions. And back down the trail we went still keeping our backup in mind.

We put a few more kilometers on the odometer and found a pleasant little spot down a much lighter forest road in a big pull out. Probably good for caravans but empty for us. We pulled way back and had a great view with our backs to the woods.  Probably not our favorite spot as we felt a bit exposed even with our parked like we were but sometimes you just have to make do.

Kloo Lake

Further into the Yukon we went, heading towards Kloo lake, our final stop before heading into Alaska! We knew we weren't camping at Kloo exactly, none of our "destinations" were really the spots we ended up camping in the end. We planned ahead a bit and had been scoping out spots via our apps when we had service so we already had some spots in mind.

We made a quick stop in Whitehorse for gas and some souvenirs. After so little in regards to population pulling into Whitehorse made the size of the town seem massive! We did our business and moved right along.

Since we had a few options picked out we started to scope them out as we pulled closer to Kloo but the majority were closer to a smaller lake up the road a bit called Sulfur Lake. We had a favorite in mind and found our forest road, which we prayed was not like the previous forest road we took that cost us a lot of time and headache. Boy were we in for a surprise. The road was narrow to start but nothing like the previous one. And it pulled out to what I believe to be our coolest spot on the trip.

The camp was nestled just outside Klaune National Park and had a beautiful view of the mountain ranges that run right through the park. These hold some of the largest ice fields in north America. It was a bit windy but the skies and cleared and we were just dumbfounded that this spot wasn't taken every day of the week. We setup camp but it took a bit longer than normal. Because the wind was a coming at us pretty good we took extra precaution and used all the extra tie-down points on the awning. The last thing we wanted was to wake up to the whole thing a mangled mess! We even got to have a little fire once the wind died down later in the evening. I'll reiterate that this was the most amazing spot since the start of our journey. Simply breath taking.

Sorry for the long post but we've just been going, going, going and without any kind of cell service its hard to get things posted! We've just passed the second week mark of the trip and are pulling closer to Alaska. Look for more updates soon!

It was hard to leave Patrick's Point. It was such a beautiful area with tons of hikes that looked so brilliantly serene, but we are on a pretty tight schedule to get to Alaska and back and Crater Lake was awaiting us. So off we set, continuing up the coast and finally heading inland at Crescent City through Jedediah Smith Redwoods into Oregon. The scenery started to change as we moved into some dryer portions of Oregon, a section of the state neither of us has visited before.

The thing about road tripping with Bri and I is that we take too many stops. We're slow, well I am, so most of our stops end up being much longer than they should. As such, it took us a little longer to get to Crater than the map said but we rolled in around 3pm. Not as much time as we would have liked because we wanted to get a simple hike in but we were also going to be camping outside the national park on public land and wanted to find our spot before dark.

We decided to drive the Rim of the park, I thought some disappointment may set in but I was wrong. So wrong. What a beautiful park; the views were to die for. It ended up taking about 2 hours to go the full rim. I'm not sure if this is fast or slow but it felt slow to me because the park is truly laid out for this journey with pull-offs around every bend. Bri and I took full advantage of this, stopping at almost every pull-off just to take it all in. I won't dig in to all the tidbits about the lake because the parks site does that just fine. I'll just say that you won't see these views anywhere else and if you have the chance to see the park you should definitely take it. You will not be disappointed.

After we made the trip around the rim we started heading down the hill, backtracking our route a little to get to a spot I found on Gaia that looked perfect. Up a forest road around 3 miles from the main highway into the park just outside the national park. The spot ended up being almost as great as I had imagined.

We found the site around 5:30 or 6pm but up here it stays light later than we're used to in Arizona so we weren't rushing to beat the dark which was nice. But the temps def started dropping fast. Sadly this part of Oregon was also under a burn ban so no fire for us :(. Bri and I bundled up a bit (though I'm sure most Oregonites would have scoffed at us - it wasn't that cold) and setup camp. As we were, we ended up having visitors! First a pair of deer, a mother and young fawn were very interested in us and shortly after wandering off they returned with a juvenile buck and a few more doe. It was really quite perfect with the sun setting behind the tree's in a cool little glen tucked away in the mountains. But after a short time the deer started to become a nuisance. Clearly this was a popular spot and they were used to humans as they were hardly deterred by my loud voice nor my clapping hands. They circled our camp for a while getting closer than we liked a few times and I was finally able to send them on there way by clanging some silverware together. It was a bummer cause the spot is beautiful but I'm guessing they find food there quite often (don't worry Bri and I are very good campers and stick to the rules about mess and food).

It ended up being pretty chilly up there but the camper works quite well, Bri and I woke up quite toasty which makes getting out painful.

Portland

We shot off to Portland the next morning to visit some friends, do a few loads of laundry, and organize the truck a bit as things had gotten a bit out of sorts living out of it for a week.

The first night we were by our selves as our friends had a prior engagement that put them out of town the first night we rolled in. This ended up working out as we were able to take over watching there animals on the last night and get most of our laundry done. We were pretty beat too so it was nice to sit on a couch and kinda recover for a few. Not much of note happened this first night honestly haha.

The next day our friends Bryan and Arianna got back into town. We caught up with them for a bit while they unloaded and during the process we talked about the border crossing into Canada. We had read through the various websites online so we had a general idea but because neither Bri nor myself had been to Canada we did not know what to expect. The websites, of course made us feel a bit over whelmed because they prepare you for the worst but our friends, both in the US and Canada have had issues as well. We had all of our ducks in a row except for a full manifest of everything in the Nellie. Our Canadian friends are well prepared like us and mentioned that they kept a very detailed manifest when moving back and it helped them so of course we started scrambling. I'm sure Bryan and Arianna were laughing at us but we did it. We went through every item in that truck and wrote it down, which just killed our day. I was a bit bummed as I would have liked to spend a bit more time hanging out but I knew if we didn't have it we would regret it.

Later that night we all went to a great little brewery for dinner in Portland. We love Portland but I think Bri loves it more than anywhere else because you wont find a more Vegan friendly city and the restaurant did not disappoint. Good drinks, good food, and good company were in abundance. As much as I love the site seeing and exploring our wonderful continent I also love catching up and spending time with friends along the route. We don't get to see these people very often but love their company and it was a fantastic evening.

Sadly Bri and I were so consumed with the border crossing, manifest and catching up with friends neither of us took any pictures! FAIL!

Driving Through Washington

Washington wasn't a big destination on our list. I think because we were anxious to get across the border and get up to Kelowna to see another set of friends we haven't seen in years. Originally we were going to stop at a small bonsai museum outside Seattle on our way through but sadly they were closed on Mondays ( I honestly didn't think to check because who's closed on weekdays??). We did stop at a little spot called Upper Tumwater Falls. I felt bad about just shooting through Washington so I asked Bri to use her mad skills to find us something we could stop and check out.

Sadly the stop was under construction but we still got to take a little hike and check out a cute river. We grabbed a snack and set off for the Canadian border.

-Wes

Our first day on the road brought us outside of LA to Orange. I have family there and we stayed the night with them before heading to our first camp- Kirk Creek in Big Sur. We had a good night with good food and conversation, and were refreshed and ready to go in the morning.

Once we bypassed all of the LA traffic, we got to see some beautiful views along the coast. It was a bit of a sketchy drive through the winding hills with construction going on, but Wes is an excellent and patient driver, so we made it safely and in decent time.

Once we arrived at the campground, we knew we had made a good call reserving our spot there. The views of the ocean were sweeping and wide. We were on a hill, so we overlooked all of the campers in front of us. Our little grassy knoll was perfect for setting up the awning and chairs to just sit and enjoy the vista.

There was a small and winding trail that ran alongside the creek and down to the ocean. The trail was lined with giant clover, wildflowers, and bunches of trees. We walked down to the beach right before sunset and dipped our feet in the cool freshwater creek, then sat on the rocky shore just enjoying the sound and smell of the ocean. It was far too rocky and wild to swim, but I wish I could have taken a dip!

Back at camp, we had many critters around to keep us company. There were adorable little ground squirrels and tiny little rabbits. We even had a gopher snake and some raccoons join in on the fun! They hung out as we made dinner and finally went to their respective hideouts by the time the sun was going down. We watched the most breathtaking sunset and just sat listening to Harry Potter, enjoying the moment together.

The next morning was damp and foggy and lovely. We were able to clean up camp pretty quickly and get back on the road. We headed for the Monterey Bay Aquarium before our next stop in Big Basin State Park.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Monterey Bay is an adorable little seaside town with a beautiful aquarium. We were lucky enough to find free, untimed parking walking distance to the aquarium. It was so beautiful!

At the aquarium we saw some amazing creatures and sea life. It happened to be a very busy day, but we were able to get all the way through the facility and see all the cool exhibits. I loved the open ocean tank with hammerhead sharks, sea turtles, rays, and other cool creatures. Wes’ favorite was the tentacles exhibit. It was all about octopi and squid, and there was an art installation as well.

We couldn’t take our time there as we had to make it to Big Basin State Park before dark so we could set up camp, but we managed to have a great time.

Big Basin Redwood State Park- Sempervirens Campground

This site was a little crowded for our taste, but it sure was beautiful! There were a lot of rules and regulations at this particular park due to the fact that they are home to an endangered bird, the Marbled Murrelet. We had to be extra careful with crumbs and trash because the crows and jays are their number one predator.

While at camp, we started hearing this strange popping and cracking sounds, then a huge thunderous crash. We quickly realized that a tree had fallen not too far from where we were camped! It was crazy.

Sonoma Coast State Park- Bodega Dunes Campground

This is the one spot we weren't too happy with. Thankfully, we were only there for one night. It was literally a big sand pit, and the beach was not nice at all. Overall, it wasn't horrible, just not our favorite place so far.

Patrick's Point State Park- Agate Campground

I wish we could have stayed here another night or two, as it is one of my favorite spots so far. Not only was there beautiful scenery, but our campsite was secluded and surrounded by lovely trees. They even had free hot showers! I would highly recommend this place to anyone traveling up the California coast.

The next morning we drove to the Redwood National Park and did a small hike. It was amazing and humbling. Seeing the age and sheer size of those trees was an experience I'll never forget.

That wraps up our time in Cali! It was lovely and great, but we were glad to move on.

-Bri

Since Kirk Creek in Big Sur is a must for us and is our second stop, we had to change the day we left. So, we are leaving one day earlier than we originally planned. Thankfully, the mistake was made early enough that we were able to make other arrangements for our first night out, and it didn't affect the rest of the trip. I am also thankful for my sweet cousin and her husband who are letting us stay with them our first night! They live outside of Los Angeles, so our second day is going to be a little longer than originally planned, but it'll still all work out just fine.

Seeing my family is a special treat that is only possible because of an error in our calculations. I am trying to take this as a learning experience that if things don't go exactly as planned, it just means there is an opportunity to make things even better than anticipated.

-Bri

While Google Maps assumes you're going to take the Alaska-Canada Highway, we wanted to see the western coast, which meant I had to create a custom route. I calculated mileage and hours to determine our stops. We also had a list of Must See's that were included.

It was a little difficult at first because I had not messed with Google Maps other than using it as a GPS when I needed directions. So I taught myself to create customized maps, which was time consuming, but pretty fun! I also ran into trouble when the mudslides and fires closed the highway we wanted to take, but we had enough time to plan, so we eventually got around to that part of the trip.

Now that we have a route and our stops, we had to figure out how we were getting there. We bought our 2011 Tacoma with the intentions of taking it out on road trips and doing a little overlanding, so that was the obvious choice. Once we had our camper shell, it was time to build some storage and a sleeping platform. We opted for this setup over the rooftop tent or a trailer because it has the least amount of restrictions. We have some long driving days ahead of us, so being able to just crawl in the back when we're tired will be so nice. We won't have to worry about setting up a tent or have to navigate a trailer off-road in the dark.

While there are many resources out there about building out the back of your truck, each vehicle is unique, so we had to do most of the calculations ourselves. Thankfully, Wes has some experience with construction and building with wood, so that helped a lot. I would have been totally lost on my own! We measured twice and cut once, and most of the time this worked. But we still managed to run into trouble with a few pieces we miscalculated. While this was frustrating, the whole process was a learning experience so I try not to be too hard on us for that. Plus, we worked together on this project, and that's time I'll treasure forever.

From there we had the easy stuff. All that was left was to calculate fuel, food, and the occasional lodging. I love making spreadsheets, so I made one that calculates our hours, mileage, and food costs. We rounded up on everything and got started on saving.

All of this took place over the course of two years, which allowed us to do things the right way. In these final weeks before we leave, we are just ironing out the details. Things like which hikes we want to take, and which secret forest roads we want to explore. It's getting close, folks! I honestly cannot wait!

-Bri

We were winding down from a night out celebrating our two favorite people, us. I had casually mentioned that our 10 year anniversary was quickly approaching and we should do something epic. We have always wanted to visit Belize, Thailand, and Iceland, so naturally a trip surfaced to the top of the list. But trips like these are usually short, and extending them beyond the standard one or two weeks can be cost prohibitive. This is 10 years, a big milestone. Don't get me wrong, spending a week on the beaches of Thailand or the atolls of Belize would be pretty epic. But I wanted something a bit different, and if there is one thing I know about Bri....she's always down for an adventure. The bigger the better.

Bri and I love travel and we love road trips. During our time in Los Angeles we would road trip back and forth to Arizona to see our family. We loved these trips and would often extend the six hour drive to eight or more, stopping along the way to explore long abandoned buildings or little towns that dot the landscape. Even before we moved we road tripped as much as possible. Someday I'll write down the two weeks we spent bombing through Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and all the beautiful views along the way.

So, what could we do that would earmark this anniversary for us? A road trip would be cool, but where to? Then I realized I have always wanted to go to Alaska, and that would be an amazing trip. We've admired the views from afar. Could we do it as a road trip? Lot's of people have. I threw out Alaska that night and the wheels immediately began to turn. I'm not sure we decided that night, but it wasn't much longer before our minds were set. Alaska, it just made sense. We'd get to see a massive expanse of the west coast of  North America, spend time with each other, and visit friends and family along the route. We'd get to explore the wild spaces and test our mettle. We'll be able to disconnect from the daily grind and reconnect with our surroundings. And with that the planning had begun!

-Wes