Road to Alaska

It took me while to decide the how, when, and what of moving to Alaska, but I think I have finally nailed it all down.  I pretty much knew from the start that I wanted to drive so I can see a few things along the way.  The tough part was planning around my dog, Millie.  She's a 6 months old black lab who is way too energetic.  I needed to make sure that I would be able to find lodging each night that allowed dogs and also have enough time each day to walk her.  All in all, I am travelling roughly 3000 miles, but I tried to limit each day's drive to about 7 hours (except for one day where I'll have to do 10).  As for activities along the way, this turned out to be much more difficult.  I'll probably be stopping in several National Parks, but none of them allow dogs!!  I was quite disappointed at that.  This means I will be cutting my stay at some of these parks short, and will be putting Millie in day care/kennel for the places where I plan to stay for a whole day or more.  So much for trying to spend quality time with her :(

There was one other snag to the trip.  There are no roads leading to Juneau, AK.  I have to take a ferry from somewhere if I was going to drive there.  My departure terminal choices with the Alaska Marine Highway System were either Bellingham, WA or Prince Rupert, BC.  Bellingham was my first choice since I could avoid couple extra days of driving.  However, I was very concerned for Millie who will have to spend most of the 3 days cooped up in her crate inside the car.  Even with 3 or more pet calls a day, I think she would be pretty miserable.  I almost considered driving to Prince Rupert, which would cut the ferry time to half.  Unfortunately, driving to Prince Rupert in the winter seemed way too risky so now I am just hoping Millie will manage the ferry ride.  I could potentially fly her from Seattle, but I would have to find someone who is available to pick her up from the kennel and put her on the plane on the day I arrive Juneau.   We'll see....

It's not my style to plan everything for a trip, but it's unfortunately necessary when you have a dog in tow.  Here is a break down of the next three weeks for me:

2/2 - Depart Reston; stay in Columbus, OH
2/3 - Stay at Dad's in Springfield, IL
2/4 - Stay in Mitchell, SD
2/5 - See Mt. Rushmore; stay in Sturgis, SD
2/6 - See Devils Tower National Monument; stay in Livingston, MT
2/7 - Drop Millie off at kennel/day care; arrive in West Yellowstone, MT
2/8 - Snowcoach tour to Old Faithful
2/9-11 - Cross-country skiing in Yellowstone?
2/12 - Another snowcoach tour in Yellowstone (Grand Canyon area)
2/13 - Dog sledding tour
2/14 - Pick Millie up from kennel/day care; stay in Liberty Lake, WA
2/15 - Arrive in Seattle; meet up with friend for dinner
2/16 - Hang with another friend; snowshoe or take dogs for a hike
2/17 - Tour downtown Seattle; hang with another friend that night
2/18 - Catch ferry in Bellingham
2/21 - Arrive in Juneau

Now that I've written it all down, it's a pretty hectic schedule.  Hopefully the ferry will be relaxing.  And I have a few days in Yellowstone where I can choose to do nothing if I want.  Hopefully I will manage to stay healthy during the trip and avoid snowstorms.  Wish me luck!