Getting Back to Utah

Amanda flew home from Alaska to get back to reality soon. I stuck around for a few days, and volunteered to escort my friend's truck back to Utah for them. This allowed me to road trip with 13 of my friends from Juneau to Washington, then to Utah flying solo. This was the route we took (plus a stop in Stewart - Hyder, and a day trip to Vancouver) just over 3,000 miles in a week. 

This is a lighthouse near Haines, AK from the ferry:

The Scenery in the Yukon was breathtaking. So amazing. 

I'm stealing pics from a dear friend, Ericka Brown here (these show half of the group):

We picked a perfect time to make this drive. 9 cars. 14 people. 11 bikes. All of our belongings from living in Alaska for about 6 months, and we had no car troubles, border crossing troubles, getting super lost troubles, it was magical.

I stayed in Bellingham, WA for three nights at the home of Ms. Ericka Brown (resident of B-ham). One day we toured the area:

The next day we headed to Vancouver, BC. Keira joined us for this moment: JAPADOG. Yup. Hot dog stand with Japanese food on top. It was actually delicious. 

We also rented bike and biked around Stanley park, right in the middle of the city. 

The roadtrip was a great way to end the Alaskan adventure. Being with people who had just experienced the same thing, and slowly making it to larger and larger cities helped ease us back into reality. It was also interesting to reflect on HOW FAR AWAY Juneau is, and although it was still an epic trip for us, it had to have been incredibly difficult for the settlers and miners of the early 1900s to get there. We crossed so many mountain passes, had to drive around a 15,000 acre Ice field lined with 140 glaciers, were hundreds of miles away from cities with real help, and in 2013.

Another point I find odd: May -October 2013 were the months I've driven the very most in my life, (most days in Juneau I logged about 85 miles) and now I am living completely without a car.

This roadtrip was great. I sure love these people.