Assuming we can get all our ducks in a row today, tomorrow we take off down the Yukon River to head to Dawson City, the heart of the 1898 Klondike gold rush.  We'll be putting in just past Carmacks, giving us about 6 or 7 days on the river depending on how energetic we feel.

After the first couple days we'll be deep in the wilderness, so we've got to make sure we've got all the necessary safety & emergency gear.  We need to be prepared for bear or moose encounters, wind, rain, sun, forest fires, bloodthirsty mozzies, and tons of angry beavers.

Mandrew's looking forward most to burying his poopie in the dirt and wiping his ass with fresh river water.  Chelsea's excited to sing as loud as she can without anyone hearing (including Mandrew, since marriage has quickly trained his selective hearing).

Wish us luck!

With Andrew's parents visiting we couldn't resist a little Alaska visit.  We drove from Whitehorse to Haines on Monday - suuuuuuch a cool 5 hour drive!  Lots of awesome scenery, we saw a black bear and her two cubs eating dandelions by the side of the highway, drove over the mountain summit, all of it in perfect sunshine.  Spent a few days in Haines checking out the Chilkoot river where the Sockeye salmon were running.  Sadly, the Sockeye run is very low this year and fishing in the river was shut down.  Good to see the fisheries managing the run though.  The Grizzly's were hungry and must have found a better place to eat, but we did see one big mama Griz and her cub which was ADORABLE AND A HALF!  

We also did a very quick one day jaunt up to Juneau on the Fjord Expedition boat where we saw sea lions, seals, porpoises, hump back whales and eagles.  We also stopped at the Mendenhall Glacier where we did a small hike.  The next day we took the Malispina ferry to Skagway with the car.  We had sun and hot weather the entire time, which is very rare in Southern Alaska.  We got a little cloud in the sky on Friday when we drove back to Whitehorse.  The drive from Skagway to Whitehorse is the most amazing drive in the world!  So glad the Marston's got to do it, and get a small taste of Alaska.  Jim said he was very surprised by how lush and hot it was.  

Hope you enjoy our pictures!  I know we took a lot, but we figured that since we always get questions about what it's like, we figured we would go all out for ya's!

To open the photos in a new window click here.

We spent last weekend with the family enjoying the Atlin Arts & Music Festival in Atlin, BC.  Nicknamed "Switzerland of the North", Atlin was the perfect backdrop for a music fest, with gorgeous lake and mountain scenery and a perfect small-town feel.  Even the performers were genuinely taken aback by the magic of the place; Hawksley Workman probably put it best when he simply said, "oh, those mountains there ... they're actually an island."

With my parents (Mandrew's) visiting for the next couple weeks, the weekend was a great introduction to the beautiful scenery and friendly feel of the area.  It was also a good primer to get their bodies into the routine of daily drunkenness.  

Chelsea, Shawn, and I volunteered as daytime "security" for the festival, giving us free admission and a couple excellent meals backstage with the crew and artists.  For a couple of six hour shifts, the three of us were in charge of controlling access to the backstage area.  This was, of course, extremely difficult work - both Chelsea and I had to assert our authority once or twice to keep the odd toddler from sneaking a peek behind the curtain.  =P

Most of the performers were new to us, which was nice since we got to discover some new favourite bands.  Chelsea fell in love with the closing band "The Boom Booms" and we both really enjoyed the mellow tunes spewed out by Harry Manx.  On Sunday morning, we all went for a nice hike in the nearby mountains and enjoyed the view before heading back to Whitehorse to get ready for our Alaskan adventure.

If you can't see the above slideshow, click here.

We finally made it to Whitehorse!  The last stretch was painful!

If you can't see the above slideshow, click here.

We are now over half way through our 4 day 9 hour Greyhound bus trip.  We left Kitchener at 10:15pm on Tuesday night.  Spent 11 hours in Winnipeg yesterday and got into Edmonton this afternoon around 4:30pm (we were supposed to be here at 1:10pm but left late).

Right now we're just hanging out near the (sketchy) greyhound station in Edmonton charging our computer and iPods.  It is a looooong way to go on a bus, but there are surprisingly a lot of people doing long hauls like us.  Every bus has been packed so far.  I guess its a popular thing to do these days?  It feels like time has stopped, we never know where we are or what time or day it is, we just keep moving.  seeing lots of country.  I saw a bear near Wawa and Andrew saw a moose and fox last night between Winnipeg and Edmonton somewhere.  No flood damage to be seen in Edmonton, but some of the prairies were flooded.  Not over the roads, but the ditches were full of water.  We passed a fallen down robot telephone pole as we were driving into Edmonton.  Apparently there were strong winds last night and tornado warnings near Edmonton, so we think that might be what knocked it down.  

Anyways, tonight at one minute past midnight we depart for the non-stop drive from Edmonton to Whitehorse.  Well, sometime after midnight anyway.  None of our busses since Kitchener have been on time.  Usually an hour or two late to depart.  lots of stressed out people upset about their seats, or the bus being full, or the driver freaking out about time, lol.  We're doing well though.  Just going along, playing frisbee when we stop, walking around, and then sleeping, audio book and watching movies on the computer.  Pretty chill.  

Will update when we get there.  Andrew says "word to your moms!".