33 days, two countries, 8 border crossing, 6 states, 9,121 Miles, and nearly 186 hours in the car
We have seen a good portion of Alaska (and driven a decent percentage of the paved roads), British Columbia, and the Yukon. We have been to the mountains, the beach, seen animals, eaten cookies and ice cream, and adventured our way north and then back south again. We had amazing wildlife encounters (bears, caribou, moose, elk, deer, eagles, reindeer, dogs, and more). We explored wonderful towns, found off the beaten track gems, and ate like royalty! We survived the land of the midnight sun. We went from real night to no sunset and back again. It’s an adjustment as the days get longer and despite needing sunglasses at 11 pm it’s time to go to bed. We revisited some favorite places from past MFA trips and from Jim’s two trips to Alaksa and my one. It was all fantastic, though I’m not sure any of us would sign up to do it all again!
We set the goal in 2014- get the girls to all 50 states before they graduate from high school. As Sam rolls into her senior year we accomplished the mission! This trip has been amazing and a fitting grand finale to the Maule Family Adventure project. As always we could not have done it without the hospitality and support of friends along the way. Huge thanks to the Ferland, Holmberg, and Swenson families. They opened their homes to hurricane Maule, fed us, showed us around, and gave us unlimited use of the washing machine. We had wonderful visits with Kevin Rice, the Yannarellas, and Michelle Phillips giving us a locals perspective as we traveled. We met some new friends along the way and appreciated their suggestions and tips as we explored their towns and favorite places.
A few invaluable tools- our trusted Rand McNally atlas started us out, but once we hit the Canadian border we switched to paper maps (AAA were pretty good). The Milepost is an Alaska travel must have! Once I figured out how to use it we realized that there was far more information than we could ever need or use. It’s ok- I had plenty of time to sift through it! The Roadside America app was sparse, but had some good tips. Atlas Obscura was also helpful for finding some of the fun and interesting stops! Magazines, pamphlets, posters, and curiosity led us to some fun and interesting places too! Put it all together and we had ourselves and amazing adventure!
There were definitely some highlights on this trip-
Valdez
The ferry from Valdez to Whittier
Reindeer Concert
Dog sledding
The wildlife
As we rolled through the last 2 hours of the trip we kept up the tradition of Road Trip Trivia and M&M prizes, but with a little twist. We talked about things we remembered and defined our visit to each of the 50 states. It’s so interesting to hear what each of us remembers and what moments left an impression on the girls. No matter what comes next, they will always have those highlights (and some low lights) and hopefully keep exploring and experiencing all that comes their way- just not today!
Thanks for traveling with us! We are not sure what comes next for our travels, but as always, it will be an adventure!
Stacey, Jim, Sam, & Alix
