From Alabama to Alaska to Anaheim

I'm sure you've all been wondering where I've been for the last three weeks. Normally, I wouldn't take that long of a vacation, but certain once in a lifetime opportunities just take a little longer than others. See, for the last 24 days or so I have been on just that kind of adventure.
I've mentioned many times before that my family and I love to travel. Every couple of years we take a road trip across the country. I could tell you story after story about all the amazing places and things we've seen just in the lower 48 states alone. But that just wasn't enough for us. Ever since we started these road trips (the first was when I was 11), we've had the goal of visiting every state in the USA. The lower 48 were easy enough. It only took about three trips to get all those checked off the list. The only ones left were Hawaii (which of course would require either an airplane or a boat), and Alaska...America's final frontier.
Driving to Alaska from Alabama is not really uncommon. We've had plenty of friends who have made the trek, and gave us great advice. Still, it's not the easiest of trips to make, and it was much more adventurous than anything we'd ever done before. My mom and husband spent months and months (almost a year I think) planning our journey.
A few months ago, we bought a pop-up camper specifically for this trip. There is only one road in or out of Alaska, and hotels are few and far between, so we all decided a house on wheels was just what we needed. That little 17-foot luxury of a pop-up (who we affectionately named "Elvis") has been home for the last month. And boy, the things we've seen with it!
Our entire trip took us almost 12,000 miles, across 16 states and 4 Canadian provinces. In addition to driving just about every road in Alaska, we made stops in places like Vancouver (where we visited the town where my favorite TV show "Once Upon A Time" is filmed), Crater Lake National Park in Oregon, the redwood forest in Northern California, Hearst Castle on historic Hwy 1 in California, San Francisco, and Disneyland (yeah, that one was especially for me :). I carried 3 cameras and took 3,882 between my dad and I. I've only begun to scratch the surface editing wise, but here's a peek into some of the things we saw....

This wooden bridge just outside Dawson Creek, BC, Canada is the only original bridge still in use along the Alaskan Highway.

In Watson Lake, Yukon, Canada, there is a place called The Sign Post Forest. It was started by a military man during construction of the Alaskan Highway. He and his friends were so homesick, they decided to build a sign post that listed all their hometowns (similar to the sign post on M*A*S*H). The idea grew and grew, and now almost everyone who drives the Alaskan Highway stops by and leaves a sign of their own. There were several from our area, and I had so much fun finding them. And yes, we left one too that proudly says, "Geraldine, Alabama: 3,305 miles."

Teslin Lake, Yukon, Canada. This is our home on wheels underneath a starry Canadian sky, just after we set up camp for the night.

A totem pole at sunrise in Teslin, Yukon, Canada.

Sunrise over Teslin Lake, Yukon, Canada.

This was the first snow-covered mountain we saw in Alaska. It's part of the Wrangell-St. Elias range. This is Mt. Drum, near Glennallen, Alaska.

Sunrise on the Wrangell-St. Elias range in Glennallen, Alaska.

Sunrise on the Wrangell-St. Elias range near Glennallen, Alaska.

Liberty Falls, on the road to Kennicott Mine, Alaska.

We drove 60 miles down a gravel road to see the abandoned Kennicott Mine. It was well worth the trip! Probably my favorite place in Alaska!

Kennicott Mine, Alaska

I can't remember exactly where this is, but I do know it's somewhere near Anchorage, Alaska.

Near Seward, Alaska

On the road between Delta Junction and Denali Park, Alaska.

We made it!

 

The Aurora Borealis over Teslin Lake, Yukon, Canada. It was very faint to the naked eye, but my camera was able to see it pretty well. I had to create a 3 minute exposure (meaning the shutter on the camera was open for 3 minutes) to be able to truly capture the colors.

The towns in rural Alaska and Canada make you feel like you've travelled back in time. Stewart, BC, Canada

This is a bear and wolf observation area during the salmon run. We were there at the end of the run, so we didn't get to see any bears here, but there were still plenty of gorgeous salmon! Hyder, Alaska

Our trek home took us near Vancouver, Canada, so I asked if we could spare an afternoon to stop by and see the real-life town of Storybrooke (Stevenson Village) where "Once Upon A Time" is filmed. We ate lunch at the Cannery Café (better known as Granny's Diner in the show), and walked up and down the streets seeing all the stores and buildings in their non-Storybrooke state. Whenever the show gets ready to film, crews come in and change all the signage on the buildings. A few places do leave their Storybrooke labels up all the time though. Like the bread store and pet shelter (which by the way isn't really a pet shelter lol).

Sunrise over Crater Lake National Park, Oregon.

Our stop in San Francisco was so that I could see the Walt Disney Family Museum. Walt's daughter, Diane, opened the museum just a few years ago as a way to honor her dad. We got to see some amazing Disney family artifacts, including Walt's very own 1/8 scale steam train that he ran in his backyard.

On our way home, we travelled down the coast of California on the historic Highway 1. We came across this lighthouse during the best early morning light (what photographers call "golden hour").

Waves crashing on the California coast on Hwy 1.

There is a section on the coast along Hwy 1 (near Hearst Castle) where elephant seals gather. There were hundreds on the beach!

Now I bet you're wondering, where are the Disneyland photos?? Those of you that know me at all know that it was easily my favorite part of the trip. I'll be posting those photos in a separate post with a brief report of our very first visit. Until then, I'm back to work, so give me a call to schedule your next session! (And be looking for info on Christmas mini sessions! We will start booking time slots very soon!)