The long road has almost come to an end. We’re sitting here, at Steve mom’s place in Dillon, Sunday afternoon, with only an hour and forty-five minutes from home and the completion of the on the road portion of The World By Road Expedition. We’ll be making our way to Denver mid-day, Monday. Just the thought of the end of the road is a beyond eerie feeling, so I haven’t a clue what’s going on in Shoppman’s mind, for this has been his life for the last 29 months. It’s been an incredible ride, and has been an amazing experience. Blogs on the finale will be up soon, put first on to the week in review.
Category Archives: Countries
To the Rescue in the Land of the Midnight Sun
July 12, 2009 – 12:01 am
From finding a job to getting good seats to the game, many things in life come down to who you know. As most of our followers on the web remember, during our hiatus in Denver we put on a fundraiser for gas money to get ourselves to Alaska and beyond. In order to complete the last major milestone of the expedition, we needed to rely on the support of friends, family, strangers, and generous companies both local and beyond. One of Steven’s friends, Clint, works for the sunglasses and gear oriented company, Oakley.
Trip to Old Minto
July 9, 2009 – 6:43 am
The sense of community we all felt when we arrived at the Old Minto camp for an Athabasca Indian potlatch was incredible and inspiring. We were all very fortunate to interact with them and learned a great deal on our tour of the camp.
It began with a 30-mile boat trip up the Tanana River from Nenana, Alaska to the site that was originally settled in 1912. They have since moved their camp to a new location based on the flooding that continually caused them to flee, but still return to their old location for celebrations. It was here they were having a celebratory potlatch, as they come to the Old Minto a few times throughout the summer.
Photo of the Week: Icy Wonderland
July 8, 2009 – 12:01 am
While visiting Valdez, our final destination in Alaska, we had the pleasure of sea kayaking near glacial icebergs with our host, Pangaea Adventures. The scenery and colors were out of this world.
New Photos – Nenana and the Old Minto Camp
July 7, 2009 – 8:17 am
A small town called Nenana lies south of Fairbanks with a large Native population. Up the river from there Craig scheduled for us to meet with Robert Charlie, the director from the Cultural Heritage and Education Institute. While Robert Charlie turned out to be a bit of a swindler and general let down as he rushed us through our meeting at the village to make $100 for a boat ride, our arrival at Old Minto was a memorable one.
New Photos – Fairbanks
July 6, 2009 – 4:03 pm
Fairbanks is the second largest city in Alaska. It has amazing weather and in the summer time it does not get dark, so you can jet ski and boat and walk down the river it bright sun at 2 am. The river passes through the center of town and allows for decks and patios to eat dinners and have drinks while enjoying the Alaskan summer.
New Photos – Deadhorse and Prudhoe Bay
July 5, 2009 – 1:46 am
At the end of a 500 mile road, in the middle of nowhere lies a town with a bleak name, of which no one knows where it came. It is freezing pretty much all year around, and no one calls this place home. It is where the famed Alaskan Pipeline begins and where millions and millions of barrels of oil continually pass to feed our need for oil.
New Photos – Hyder, AK
July 4, 2009 – 10:29 am
At the very bottom of Alaska lies the town of Hyder. With only 100 citizens in the summer and as little as 40 in the winter, this little town is like no other. They have a total of 8 students in the school, no police force and the only way in and out in winter is via floatplane. It is full of bears.
Nels’ Notes: Nomadic Wandering Shenanigans June 26-July 3, 2009
July 3, 2009 – 1:40 am
Miles, upon miles, upon miles. Miles in the rearview mirror. That, for sure, was the theme of this week, as we traveled from Valdez, Alaska to Edmonton, Alberta. That is a haul, spanning close to 2,000 miles.
We spent the weekend at the wonderful Brookside Inn Bed and Breakfast, and were graciously accommodated by hosts Jerry and Susie. We had some great meals and conversations with them, and were beyond lucky that they had an abundance of halibut. Home cooked meals are never taken for granted by anyone on the crew.
1000 Miles Later
July 1, 2009 – 8:32 pm
One month ago we set out from Denver for the great wide open wilderness of Alaska. Before leaving, Craig and I conducted considerable research on the last section of road to Prudhoe Bay named the James W. Dalton highway. I found a website with an entire page devoted to the road named The Dalton Highway, “The Haul Road.â€
