Our new granddaughter Lyla arrives!
Our original plan was to start out on our trip to Alaska in mid April but when we found out that Anna and Drew were expecting another little girl in May ( our second granddaughter) we of course changed our plans to leave after the baby was born! Since then we've been anxiously awaiting the arrival of our new little granddaughter Lyla Elizabeth. She was born 3 weeks early on April 27 and she is adorable! Her "big sis" Emmy just loves playing with her baby dolls and since Lyla is just about the same size as the baby dolls, Emmy's delighted to have a little sister to hold!
We took care of Emmy while Anna and Drew were in the hospital. Emmy is talking up a storm. We're still trying to figure out what "con corny" is - she points and says it alot but we don't have a clue what she's talking about. It's so much fun to be with her- she is so full of energy and gets excited by the littlest things - like a flower or the wind in her hair!
Drew, Anna, Emmy and Lyla. Lyla is one day old.
Molly making sure Emmy cleans her plate!
Now it's time to head north to Alaska!
So now we're back home finishing our packing and planning for our trip. We'll be travelling through the Midwest with our first stop in South Dakota to see the Badlands National Park and Mt. Rushmore. Then we'll head north through Montana to the Canadian Rockies for a few days and then west to Prince Rupert to catch the Alaska Ferry through the inside passage. We're planning 6 stops along the way to Skagway, Wrangell, Petersburg, Juneau, Haines and finally Skagway. At Skagway we'll be back on the road again heading north on the Klondike Highway through the Yukon and then into the main part of Alaska - Fairbanks, Arctic Circle, Denali National Park, Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula. This is the longest we've ever been on the road and the furthest we've ever driven in "Rose" so it will be quite an adventure full of lots of unexpected surprises and challenges!
Gary has replaced Rose's windshield wipers with a new style - sure hope Rose adjusts to them and doesn't throw them off like the last ones! Fingers crossed! Plus we're taking extra fan belts, spare headlight bulbs, fluids for Rose, etc.
Molly is helping with the packing. Her list includes dog biscuits, treats, toys, food and she prefers us to leave the comb and clippers at home. And - she's also helping with the planning - well sort of!
Molly hard at work planning the trip!
Now there's the oil spill in the gulf that is expected to raise the price of gasoline to possibly $5 a gallon (we sure hope not, it's not in our budget) and who knows what else will happen while we are gone for 5 months - flexibility is key!
We're watching the weather forecast now so that we can scramble through tornado alley between big storms. It looks like sometime this weekend or early next week will be a window of opportunity! But first we have to get Molly's health certificate to get into Canada and finish our "to do" list!
We invite you to follow along as we travel through Canada and on to Alaska and back! Broadband is scarce in rural Alaska and the Yukon Territory so we'll update our blog whenever we can - hopefully every couple of weeks.
