It was another hot day today! Beau took us out on a row boat on Twin Lake in the morning. The boys loved it! Then we headed to the town of Winthrop to do some exploring. Winthrop was a pretty busy town so we made sure we wore our masks but it really was difficult to breathe due to the heat. I cannot imagine having to wear a mask all day for work or in the heat. Props to those who have to! We went to a cool little park where we learned about the salmon that come up the river to spawn (they have to go over 5 dams to get to Winthrop!) and the local natives that used to live there. The town is also super cute and a popular spot for winter sports as well.

Oh! And we also stopped in a realtor office to see if they could print out some forms for us. We are under contract for a town home so we’ve been working with the sellers and title company while on the road.

After peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch – yet again – we drove south and took a quick dip at Lake Chelan State Park. The lake is huge and beautiful and so clear! The water had an amazing green blue hue to it. Unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures though. Further down the drive we stopped at a large fruit stand and chowed down on the sweetest donut peaches, rainier cherries, plums, and pluots. So refreshing on a 95F day!

We decided to stop for the night in Leavenworth. It is a Bavarian town which is super cute but very touristy. We walked around a bit and the boys had bratwursts and pretzels for dinner. Brady ate a whole one and half the pretzel. This kid can really eat! And of course we finished off the evening with some gelato!

After admiring our special view one more time in the morning, we headed back down the forest road and made a quick stop at Nooksac Falls where we ate our overnight oats. (Side note I have eaten overnight oats every single morning so far this trip… Over it!) However, one thing we’ve noticed in Washington is how most of the rivers, lakes, and creeks are so clear!

We then continued south to the North Cascades National Park where we discovered first hand how packed the national parks really are. We kept saying I guess we’re not in Alaska anymore! Thankfully at least 90% of people wore masks and social distanced. All the campgrounds were full but we managed to snag a first come first serve spot in the Colonial Creek Campground. Phew! We were starting to get worried! Anyways, this campground was very clean and had an awesome location: right on Diablo Lake.

From the pictures below you can see the intense green-blue color of the lake. It’s glacier fed which contributes to that incredible color. It’s also freezing! That didn’t stop the boys though! They had a blast pretending logs in the water were paddle boards and people watching families back on shore.

After the boys went to bed Beau and I took turns bathing (not fully submerged though!) in the freezing cold glacier fed stream that ran into the lake. So cold but so refreshing! You must do that at least once in your life. You will never feel more alive!

We woke up to a warm day complete with a gorgeous blue sky. Before packing out the campsite we did a short hike up Thunder Knob trail. This is a great hike for kids but super popular so I recommend doing it early and in the middle of the week! Unfortunately, we forgot to charge our phones the night prior so we didn’t get any pictures of this hike. Super dry and dusty but a pretty view of Diablo Lake at the end.

After our hike we had a picnic lunch on Diablo Lake and all four of us ended up going in the lake! It was SO cold! It took me 15 minutes for me to completely dunk my head under the water. Brrrr!

We then continued eastward on the scenic byway and stopped at the Washington Pass overlook (over 5,000 feet elevation) which was incredible. (Pictures until AJ riding bike). After stopping at the pass we continued on to the town of Winthrop which is at the base of the Cascades. It was super hot!

We stayed the night at a private campground right on Twin Lakes just outside of the town. We got take out from a local cidery and enjoyed some ginger cider. The boys had a blast riding their bikes through the sprinklers while trying to stay cool! Right after sunset, Beau and I hung out and watched the sunset, and a ton of bats flying above our heads!

We made it back to the good old USA! (Although I must admit I wish we were staying in Alaska through the pandemic). Canada was interesting – at least the Yukon and British Columbia – since no one wore masks or gloves except Americans. They really made an emphasis on washing hands and using hand sanitizer but I didn’t see any signs for masks or anyone else wearing them except for us.

We had no issues crossing the border at Sumas WA and once we got into the US Sumas was a ghost town. It was kind of creepy! So many things shut down in the US whereas Canada is so open and functioning. The way our country is run is such a shame.

Anyways, I digress! We headed East towards Mt. Baker. Got some pizza and ate outside, swam at Silver Lake, berry and carrot picked at a local farm, and found a sweet spot to boondock for the night in Mt Baker National Forest. Our views were incredible and just a couple miles further down the forest road we saw those amazing views of snowy Mt Baker! It was incredible!

Gorgeous morning at Fraser Lake! We tried to get on the toad as quickly though. Our goal was to make it as close as possible to the US/ Canada border. We drove until 7pm and then decided to call it quits- only about 60 miles from the border!

In the city of Prince George we connected to Highway 1 which brought us south and through the Cariboo valley and Fraser River valley and gorge. It was spectacular scenery and my phone pics do not do it justice at all nor did we stop to take pictures either. Central interior British Columbia is so dry and a town we drove through called Cache Creek is actually known as the Arizona of Canada. Super hot and super super dry!

We ended up doing another night of boondocking since there wasn’t many campgrounds and and they were all full. We didn’t realize it was a long weekend for Canadians and they were all out camping too! We pulled over at a random turn out and Beau noticed an unmarked side road off of it. It went down to the railroad below and was empty so that’s where we parked for the night!

We got a little nervous that some Canadian official would find us boondocking and we’d get in trouble but that never happened haha! Actually, shortly after we set up the camper a truck came down the road and inside were two men who worked for the railroad. They just waved to us and never stopped to say we couldn’t camp so all was good… I guess?! An awesome thing about this spot was boys got to watch at least 6 trains go by. They thought it was super cool!

Beau and I woke up pretty pooped from last night’s craziness but the boys were happy as clams! We packed up as quickly as possible and finished up the Cassiar Highway. At the intersection of the Cassiar and Yellowhead 16 is a historical town named Kitwanga. The first photo shows the historical battle mound where a First Nations Tribe lived on top and had some fierce battles with other tribes. They rolled spiked logs down the mound’s sides to keep enemies from getting to their village.

After this pit stop we drove most of the day eastbound on Yellowhead Highway 16 past Peince George. We stopped for delicious ice cream right off the highway at a little stand in the town of Telkwa. It was about 90F so that helped cool us down!

We ended up staying the night at Piper Glen RV Park on Fraser Lake. So thankful the owners opened up a bathroom for us so we could shower and use the toilet! In British Columbia we are not allowed to stay at provincial campgrounds and most private campgrounds who accept Americans will not less us use their washroom facilities. I’m definitely going to leave a nice online review for this RV Park though! Felt so good to finally wash my hair really well!

It was a really hot day but there was a nice breeze coming off the lake. And barely any mosquitoes yay!! The boys had a blast biking down a hill near our site. They were totally showing off for the Canadian family we met. The boys were biking so fast everyone kept holding their breath that they wouldn’t crash. Oh boy, I’m in for it when they get older…

Another long driving day on the Cassiar Highway. We had a high animal count day and I actually kept count: 1 moose, 2 grizzly cubs, and 5 black bears. The southern half of the Cassiar is quite different compared to the northern half. It is much drier, more vegetation, and different trees like quaking aspen. We did see some craggy tall mountains with incredible glaciers on them too!

We stopped at Bell Lodge to get gas and they had some helicopters landing and taking off there. They were prospecting for mining operations and bringing supplies to miners way in the mountains. The boys loved the break to watch them!

Finally around 6:30pm we found an informal campsite right off the highway. The mosquitoes came out with a vengeance. After we put the kids to bed it. Was. Awful! More and more and more kept coming into the camper and they were ruthless. Beau and I stayed up for 2 hours killing mosquitoes and trying to figure out how they kept coming into the camper. Finally at midnight we felt it was safe for us to sleep. We changed our sheets since there were so many dead bug bodies on it. And there were blood splats all over the inside of the camper from us squishing them. YUCK. By some miracle the boys slept through the massacre.

We had another long day of driving but the kids took it like champs! We made it out of the Yukon in about 27 hours (no one was patrolling the border though) and exited the Alcan to head south on the Cassiar Highway which is in British Columbia.

This Highway is very remote and beautiful. We took a little 5 mile side trek to the abandoned Cassiar mine where they used to mind asbestos. (can’t even wrap my head around the concept of mining asbestos, omg!) The Cassiar Mountain range is stunning (Im not sure if they are old but they have this ancient feel to them) and the lakes have this deep green and brilliant blue hue.

We found an informal camp spot on the Cottonwood River. The River was so crystal clean and the three of us took a quick freezing bath in it- AJ was too wimpy! The mosquitos were out in full force at dusk as well… uh oh!

Crossed over the Canadian border at Beaver Creek no problems early this morning! Since we are moving on military orders we are considered essential and allowed to cross the borders.

The Yukon Territory wants you in and out within 24 hours to help keep covid out of its communities. The Alcan was no where near as bad as people have said it is so we were able to make it to Whitehorse to stop for the night. The section from Tok Alaska to Whitehorse is really remote but we did stop for food breaks and sooo many kid bathroom breaks. (Why do toddlers always have to poop at the worst times?!?! And PS- pro tip from my friend Jen- always keep dog poop bags on hand for toddler poops when bathrooms aren’t around lol!)

Scenic pictures are of the Kluane Mountains and Kluane Lake.

We said goodbye to our beautiful campsite (and two resident ducks the boys were enamored with) and headed to Tok. Tok is the last Alaskan town before the Canadian border which is still approximately 120 miles away. When we last went though three years ago it was pretty busy even for September but this time it was so quiet. W

e grabbed lunch at Fast Eddy’s and then quick stopped at Tok RV Village & Cabins to ask them if they would be willing to print out a form for us. Very friendly business! We are still in the process of finding a place to live in Washington and were so thankful they let us use their printer so we could put in an offer on a home!

Since we have limited time to travel through Canada (and especially the Yukon Territory) we wanted to stay as close as possible to the border. We drove past Tok and set up camp in the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge Deadman Lake Campground. Super buggy but you get to stay right in the Taiga forest. The Taiga forest is also called a Boreal forest which is very boggy, mossy, and contiains mostly old stunted Black Spruce trees.

Even though it was raining that didn’t stop the kids. They ride their bikes on the well maintained interpretive trail and search for blueberries!