After our great time in Denali we headed south to Anchorage making a small breakfast stop in Wasilla , where thankfully for both mine and Sarah Palin’s sake we did not run into her. In Anchorage we hit the town getting hot chocolate at Kaladi Brothers coffee and later dined on some fine indian food at Bombay Deluxe. The next day we went to Fish Creek to see silver salmon making their way up stream. Anchorage has a few things to do but unfortunately most of them did not interest us and we decided to move on.

After our stay in Anchorage we decided to check out the southern coast of Alaska by heading to Seward where we went to the SeaLife Center and Exit Glacier. At the SeaLife Center we got to stand not more than a foot away from puffins, see harbor seals feeding, and pet arctic starfish. At Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park we hiked a trail to the foot of the glacier, which has receded significantly in the past several decades due to climate change. We could also feel the cool air coming off of the glacier and see the massive rivers the glacier melting creates. Exit Glacier is but one of forty glaciers that stem from the massive 1,100sq mile, Harding Icefield.

After Stewart we checked out the Alaska State Fair, which offered some interesting sights and people. There was a farm exhibit so we pet some cows, saw owls and of course, prize winning cabbages. We had to try some local flavor so we ate some fresh peach pie, since the vegetarian stand sadly was out of corn dogs. Jack wanted to check out some more exhibits so we saw the pig races and the Equestrian Extravaganza, a bunch of gypsies doing back flips off of horses to choreographed gypsy music. This was Jack’s first State Fair and he was very excited to take it all in.

Heading To Vancouver…

We stayed one night at the Tolsona Wilderness Campground and had a beautiful campsite on the edge of a babbling brook. Sadly though, just after we cleaned up dinner and went into the car to warm up a grizzly bear came out of the meadow directly behind our car knocking over garbage cans. I spotted the bear first and screamed “OH MY GOD IT’S A BEAR!!!! LOCK THE DOORS!!!!”. Naturally, I refused to leave the car for the rest of the evening and  played lookout as Jack grabbed the sleeping bags from the tent. It was not the most comfortable night but we didn’t want to take any chances.

I want to apologize because I accidently lied in our last post about the third of September being our last night in Alaska! We had intended to stay in Stewart, British Columbia but tenting was not allowed due to recent bear activity and so we ended up in the small fishing community of Hyder, AK, “The Friendliest Ghost Town in Alaska” for a night.  Hyder, despite it’s barren streets, lack of pavement and stop signs is home to some 100 people. We think we saw most of them that evening at the Sealaska Inn & Bar where we stayed in a modest “sleeper room” comprised of a small window, wood paneled walls, a shared bathroom, and two twin beds directly above the bar. Down the street on Salmon Glacier road is an observation deck where we were able to watch bears catching salmon. We saw a black bear eating and it was incredible! Their claws are huge and made it me want to invest in an industrial sized can of bear spray, especially after our recent encounter.

Hyder, Alaska on a Foggy Morning

We had to pass through Stewart to get to Hyder so we decided to check out an adorable place, the Bitter Creek Cafe for dinner. We were extremely surprised with both our meal and the decor of the place. Decorated with antiques the cafe sells home made chocolates, artisan teas, and the obligatory canadian maple syrup. Our meal was delicious and it was such a nice change of pace from the lack of inventive meals in the more rural areas.

House Salad at Bitter Creek Cafe

There aren’t many major highways in northern British Columbia so we often have to take back-roads which are narrow and winding, which perfectly describes the Cassiar Highway. Although scenic, the dangerous road offered limited visibility and blind-spots, but we took it slow and safely arrived at the Boya Lake Provincial Campground. Our campsite was amazing, well kept and we a had beautiful view of Boya Lake at sunset and the moon rising over the mountains.

Moon Over Boya Lake

Our last stop was in Hope, British Columbia where we stayed at the Hope Valley Campground, which is my new favorite – exceptionally clean bathrooms and a game room with Ms. Pacman is a rare treat. Jack got really into Jurassic Park Pinball, and we had a fun night playing games after eating our tasty dinner of veggie chicken, mashed potatoes, and carrots.  In the morning we were famished after breaking down our wet tent (which has become a daily activity since we’ve gotten rain the past eleven nights of camping!) and we headed to Rolly’s where we had a savory breakfast. I had the eggs benedict with tomato slices (in place of ham), the hollandaise sauce offered a perfect balance of lemon on top of impeccably poached eggs. On the way to Vancouver we stopped at the Farm House, which specializes in home made cheese (mainly gouda and cheddar) from goatsmilk where we got to go into the barn and meet the baby goats, and they were ADORABLE!

Baby Goat at The Farmhouse

Our drive to and from the Last Frontier of Alaska is officially complete and what an experience it has been!

We are about a month into the trip and it truly has been a wonderful experience — but before you go jump in your car and start caravanning behind us, I thought I’d mention some of the obstacles we’ve faced.

First of all, we have been in each other’s company almost constantly throughout the trip. The vast landscapes up north keep us together as we are either in the car or on a hike. We are both pretty stubborn (I have Priscilla’s permission to say that about her) so we often butt heads. For some reason it usually involves breaking down the tent. I think it will be easier to find some time to ourselves once we reach the Pacific Coast. Until then I always keep some chocolate close by to feed to Priscilla and she makes sure I get enough sleep.

Another obstacle has been the weather. After experiencing 100 degree days in The Badlands at the end of the first week, we ran into freezing temperatures in Yellowstone and a good amount of ran through Canada. We want to tent camp as much as possible not only for the experience but also to save money. However, it’s difficult to set up camp and cook in the rain so we’ve spent some nights in hotels. It’s also nice to take a shower without sandals on!

Food has also become an adventure. We’ve done a great job preparing some interesting meals but there are plenty of days when we have oatmeal for breakfast, peanut butter and jelly for lunch, and something with rice for dinner. Suggestions/donations/food care packages welcome.

Finally, there is the car. Gas has really added up, especially in Canada and Alaska. It’s crazy that Alaska, with all the oil the oil companies are pumping through the pipeline, has gas prices over $3 a gallon. As Priscilla has been saying, it’s rather insulting to the people of Alaska. We also have a tire pressure warning light that won’t turn off. It started on the road construction throughout Yellowstone, then went off on the smooth roads around Calgary before lighting up again on the bumps on the Alaska Highway. We constantly monitor the tire pressure and hope it goes off again soon. Since we rented the car from Hertz, it’s nice that they cover the maintenance (including having the car checked out to make sure the warning light wasn’t anything serious).

That’s about it. We have settled into a decent routine and are learning a lot about ourselves and each other. I think these above points are the nuances that make the trip interesting and help us grow individually and in our relationship. Now back to your regularly scheduled program.

The drive through Montana offered gorgeous views of the Swan Mountains and a 360 degree view of the sky. It’s no wonder its called “Big Sky Country”. The green landscape can seem never-ending however. There’s no houses in sight and every ten miles or so a clump of five mail boxes rests crooked and rusted against each other. There are also more cows and horses than people (so we saw).

We stayed at a Motel 6 in Helena before heading Northwest to Glacier – for a one star hotel it was clean and the room was a decent size as well as the bathroom. What surprised me in a good way was Motel 6’s  ”green initiative” (as every good American company has these days) offering recycled products in their rooms. It’s refreshing to see a corporate establishment, especially so far in the middle of nowhere – that does not rely on Kimberley Clark a company that was (until recently) infamous for turning Ancient forests into toilet paper for their paper needs. The rest of the state (at least where we stopped in for groceries) offered little organic products which is disheartening.

We stayed at Glacier Natl. Park for two nights at the Rising Sun Campground which is in the shadow of one of the Lewis or Livingston mountain ranges. While setting up our tent we were approached by a Park Ranger and told to be extra alert of bears as three were in the campsite the evening before because of the surrounding Huckleberry bushes. After setting up our tent and battling some heavy winds to do so we made a delicious dinner of Four Cheese Agnoletti and Mushroom Agnoletti in an olive oil, basil, garlic and parsley sauce with chopped plum tomato thrown in. It was by far the best dinner we have made on the road and thinking about it now is making my mouth water.

Our second day in Glacier we hiked the Iceberg Lake Trail – a 10 mile hike climbing 1,200 feet up to Iceberg Lake where Icebergs (although few) are still visible. Squint your eyes long enough against one of the three ridges that make the walls of the Lake and you will see small white dots making their way from side to side – these of course are Mountain Goats which reside here. An older gentleman who was kind enough to let Jack use his binoculars to view the said Goats had a few gashes on his leg. When inquired by another hiker the old man simply responded “I saw a Grizzly over there and I wanted to get closer…”. There’s never a dull moment on the trail.

The Largest Remaining Iceberg at Iceberg Lake

Making your way up to the lake you are treated to dozens of kinds of wildflowers, small streaming creeks and waterfalls Moose feeding down below, a tree top view of pine trees for miles, and of course Glaciers in the distance.

Dozens of types of wildflowers align the trail

After our hike we made another tasty dinner of vegetarian chili over a bed of Basmati rice topped with oregon cheddar cheese. For dessert we treated ourselves to Boysenberry pie with vanilla ice cream for Jack and Raspberry Cherry pie with a big glass of Soymilk  for me at the Park Cafe (which was highly recommended to us by a gentleman in Bozeman). The pie might as well be the best we’ve ever had and the atmosphere of the cafe was warm and inviting. All of the food they made looked absolutely delicious and we were kind of bummed we filled up on Chili beforehand. The cafe offered tons of veggie options from Thai Baked Potatoes, Greek food, Wraps and Omelettes.

Glacier Natl. Park was our favorite hike and park so far. The trails are well kept and although busy you do get to meet some pretty interesting people as a result. Glacier which used to be home to some 180 Glaciers only has 26 left and all of them are expected to be melted by 2030. I would highly recommend seeing this park more so than others as the full beauty of this park is fleeting.

After Chicago we headed up to Madison, Wisconsin and got stuck in heavy rain which delayed our arrival. We decided to set up camp at Tower Hill State Park where we “roughed” it. There were no showers or sinks and the bathroom was pretty atrocious but I’m sure there will be worse. After setting up camp we drove down the road to the small town of Spring Green whose population is 1,444. We drove past “Fun Festival” which was a bunch of guys playing baseball and drinking Coors Light before we found ourselves in The Shed, a local restaurant. Our servers were extremely friendly and we tried some local beers, our favorite being the Lake Louie Warped Speed Scotch Ale, a nice dark beer with a smooth finish. For dinner I had a four cheese grilled cheese with onion on marble bread and Jack had a portabello grilled sandwich. Both were delicious. After having dinner we walked across the street to a local art gallery where I bought my first pieces of art! Small collages on 4×4 squares of canvas created from clippings of advertisements in architecture and music magazines. There was 100 pieces total in the collection and I purchased four of them.

The next morning the lighting was so bad and frequent that for thirty minutes we were laying on the center of the air mattress keeping as low as possible without putting our feet on the ground or near the metal poles holding the tent up. The lighting was so close  at times that the inside of the tent lit up in reddish hues, which was as awesome as it was frightening. We sprung some minor leaks and will need to add some water proof sealant to the seals in our tent in the near future. We were relieved however that the tent withstood some pretty strong winds. So, thank you Kelty!

After the hurricane like weather we headed to Grandma Mary’s cafe for breakfast before heading to the House on the Rock per suggestion of Jack’s grandfather. It was enormous, overwhelming and fantastic to say in the least. The rooms are filled with odds and ends such as antique guns, the worlds largest indoor carousel, doll houses and music machines (which are giant robotic orchestras which orchestrate themselves). After our 3.5 hour tour of the house we headed to downtown Madison to grab some lunch at Monty’s Blue Plate Diner which offers a numerous amount of vegetarian dishes. I would highly recommend the barbecue seitan sandwich with dill mustard sauce and the spicy curly fries. Unfortunately, we didn’t kick around Madison for too long because the weather forecast wasn’t looking good and we decided that a tent was probably not the best shelter for the evening. We stayed at a motel in Eau Claire only to turn on the TV to get interrupted by a tornado warning. Fortunately for us we did not experience any tornadic activity, but one did touch down twenty miles away and we saw the lighting off in the distance from that very same super cell.

House on the Rock Collection, center is 280 carats

Overall Wisconsin is a very friendly state. Madison, from what we saw seems to be a clean city which has a large amount of bikers. But the heart of Wisconsin lies within the farmers whose perfectly plowed fields and hard work provide a lush and engaging scenery while driving. People don’t hesitate to talk with you here which is a nice change from the complete disconnect of Manhattan.

Day 3

This morning we got up early and walked a quarter mile from camp at Dunewood State Park to the Beverly Shores train station where we took the aptly named South Shore Rail Line to Chicago. Since the population at our stop is very low we had to press a button which “flags” down the conductor to stop.

Upon arriving in Chicago we saw “The Bean” and in it the reflection of the Chicago Skyline. We also walked around to see other famous sculptures in the area, my second favorite to the Bean is the “snoopy in a blender” piece. Thursday is farmers market day in downtown so we checked out some local produce which all looked delicious but unfortunately we could not bring any of it back with us because it was way too hot to be carrying it around in our bags.

In the afternoon we took the red line train to Wrigley field and The Chicago Diner. The all vegetarian diner uses only seasonal produce and is also 100% vegan option. I munched on the roast beef w/ cheddar and a vegan chocolate shake, adorned with chocolate chips and chocolate syrup it was by far the best I’ve ever had. Jack got the “vegetarian times” famous “diner burger” which was also very tasty and compromised of a seitan patty on a wheat roll with sprouts, lettuce, tomato, and special diner sauce.

the chicago diner

After seeing the North side of Chicago we decided to head south to check out the Frank Lloyd Wright Row Homes. The south side of chicago is definitely not the best neighborhood I’ve ever been in which made for an interesting walk. After asking for directions we finally found the yellow brick houses nestled amongst the newer homes. We were pretty disappointed by the facade and hope that the multiple mercedes parked outside indicated more note worthy architecture on the inside. I wouldn’t recommend going out of your way to see the homes, unless of course you are a large Wright fan…but in our journey we did get to see the Cellular Field home to the White Sox, which was cool.

Eventually we made our way back up north and sat on a bench in Grant Park as merch guys made their way around setting up for Lollapalooza. Lake Michigan is huge and should not be underestimated. It looks exactly like the Atlantic but with dozens of sailboats bobbing off the coast.

After taking a breather and much needed break from walking we went to the Art Institute which has free tours after 5pm on Thursday and Friday evenings during the summer. We got  to see a great selection of Renoir, Monet and Van Gogh as well as two very interesting exhibits: Japanese Screen Paintings and A History of Wine. Also, the famous American Gothic painting resides here. After the Art museum we were absolutely famished and went to Giordanos and got the spinach stuffed pizza which was enormous and at 10″ definitely too much for only two people. (But thats okay because we ended up eating the rest for breakfast the next morning!)

It was a long day, a long day indeed, but we think we got to see a lot of what Chicago has to offer. Chicago, reminded me of a more subdued Manhattan and if it didn’t get so cold here in the winter we would consider relocating.

Before leaving for Wisconsin we decided to take a stroll through the Dunes in Indiana and hiked up to overlook Lake Michigan where we saw two skylines which we are 90% sure belonged to Gary, Indiana and Chicago. We then walked down the dunes to the beach where we skipped rocks (no sea shells here!) and felt the water which was surprisingly warm.

But then it was time to be on our way to our next destination of Madison, WI.

Full set of Chicago pictures!