We have put off writing the last blog post because we weren't quite ready to end our adventure. Two months later, we are finally ready to come to terms with reality and admit our Alaska days are done (for now).
Back track to August 15th: A final window wash... and we were headed back to Minneapolis.
We ended our trip with a great return event: A VAN Show. Somehow Adam timed it perfectly that we rolled up to Northeast Minneapolis just in time for the VAN event of the year (and his birthday!).
There were dozens of vans there, but this red VAN was a big hit.
We were glad to have some friends and family welcome us back.
Here's our number one blog reader! She got some special VAN time (and a beer!) for her dedicated blog reading.
We were lucky to have such a grand and problem-free trip. We got a handful of questions from people about the how-tos of things (mostly from Kelle), so we decided to post some Q and A:
1. How did you get pictures of both of you: Auto-timer and a mini tri-pod. Also a lot of trial and error and too many attempts sometimes (in Adam's opinion).
2. How did you "fill-up" with water: We had a hose that we connected to many random spigots (at gas stations, RV parks, people's houses, etc). We usually asked beforehand, sometimes we did it ninja style.
3. How often did you shower: Not very often. Sometimes we used the same hose and showered car-wash style outside the van (we had a mini pop-up privacy tent), other times we used camping wipes to "shower", sometimes (most of the time) we just used deodorant and called it a day. There were also many places we could pay for a shower and we did about once a week (pay at campgrounds or laundromats). A few times we also bathed in a lake, but it got too cold for that rather quickly.
4. How often did you do laundry: About every 15 days, and a few times in a lake.
5. How did you cook (boil water, etc.): We had a little grill that we mostly cooked on. Sometimes we cooked over the fire. Rachel made lunch in the back of the van while we were driving (sandwiches), for breakfast we had oatmeal (boiled water), and for dinner we usually made something with meat, rice or pasta and veggies.
6. How much did you spend: We kept track of everything we spent. We opened a bank account together before we left so we could both dump money into it and not have to constantly be dividing expenses. When it was all said and done we spent around $2,200 each (not including individual expenses). That was the total for food, camping, gas, park passes, and any other joint expense. We only paid for 9 nights of camping total during the 7 weeks!
7. How did you camp places for free: Alaska and Canada have many dirt roads that lead to creepy littles places. We parked in these places and set up camp. The book we were following, Milepost, also noted many free places to stay. British Columbia had beautiful recreation areas that offered free camping. Many of the free sites were far and few between, but we always made staying at them a priority. We also stayed with Adam's grandma for a couple nights, parked at trailheads, slept in a few rest stops and many other nooks on dirt roads along the way.
8. Did you sleep in the VAN every night: Almost. In Denali we set up a tent because tent-only camping was the only camping available in the park for one night. Also, at Adam's grandma's house we slept inside. But, other than those 3 nights, we slept in the VAN.
And our favorite question of all:
9. Did you have to go through Canada: Um... yes.
Also! Remember John from Homer, Alaska with the cool wooden campers? The man who traveled everywhere? Adam found a video on him shortly after we returned. It looks like someone interviewed him a couple weeks after we left.