South to Jasper

We usually don't unhitch when we're just overnighting, and with the new airbags and dialed-in weight distribution setup, the trailer is perfectly level. Sometimes, if a site is sloping and the front of the trailer is dipping, I'll put down the jack to lift it a little. This time, I needed the front lower. Four blocks under the front wheels of the truck dropped the hitch just enough. If no one's ever done this before, I'm claiming naming rights. Thinking about calling the move the "jack squat." #yeahijustheardittoo #willkeepworkingonit attn: @rvlegend #airstream #airstreamprotip #airstreamtoalaska

It may have had something to do with the 34 degree reading on the thermometer this morning, but it occurred to me that maybe at least once a month, @advodna_ann should go through the routine of getting the trailer ready and driving for the day. Today being the 1st, we're thinking we'll maybe do it this time each month. And it was a good leg to drive too, down to Dawson Creek and the Mile 0 Marker for the Alaska Highway! Yeah, we're kinda doing it backwards, you know like one of those fish that swim the wrong way up the stream. Damn, what are those called, again? Sorry, we've been out of Alaska for a long time already. #airstream #airstreamtoalaska #liveriveted #myrivetedlife #myrivetingwife #ladydrivers #alaskahighway #dawsoncreek #wherespacey?

Beyond Dawson Creek began to feel like a shift from the mountains to the plains. Large fields of hay have recently been cut with huge rolled bales that look like cinnamon rolls left behind for giants. In fact, the next town we'll roll through is Grand Prairie in the next province over, Alberta. But before leaving, we stopped for one last night in British Columbia at Swan Lake. Open grassy field, site next to the playground and a view of the lake. Yup, this'll do for now, but two more days and we'll be in Jasper! #airstream #airstreamtoalaska #airstreamwithkids #liveriveted #myrivetedlife #britishcolumbia #dawsoncreek

So this is happening... I love the fact that when we look back on videos like this of "firsts," it's gonna take us a minute to remember which remote lake in British Columbia we lived at for a couple days at the time. At this point, Mar [oops, typo! It's Mae!] has lived in this trailer for a little over a year! #airstreamwithkids #airstreamtoalaska #fulltimefamilies #firststeps

Trying to plan for every eventuality with the initial design of our entryway storage cabinet, we included a quick release propane connection from a tee on the stove and a catalytic heater mounted on a swing out piano hinge that could be used without consuming battery power. In practice, we just don't find that we use the heater (it being right at access level for kids may have something to do with it) and find that we typically have enough battery to run the furnace as much as we need. In practice, shoe storage takes priority, so we pulled the heater and added a couple wire baskets for little shoes and a tall space for Ann's boots. #airganization #airstream #tinyhouse #livesmall #threegirlsmeansalotofboots

Balance iPhone on rocks in gusty wind, click button to activate self timer, jump off rocks, skid back under protective railing, scoop up toddler and sprint to end of cantilevered platform 300 ft over river. I'm here to tell ya, folks, it just can't be done in the 10 seconds the iPhone gives you. Still an amazing view from several high platforms just a short walk from the campground at Sulphur Gates Provincial Park north of Jasper. Upstream, the more gentle Sulphur River changes course when it hits a dense wall of rock, the shore of an ancient lake tilted upright as the Rockies formed. It flows along this wall, trapped behind it until the more powerful Smoky River blasts through the wall at Sulfur Gates and consumes it at a tee. #airstreamtoalaska #alberta #sulphurgates

Another day, another dirt road, another carwash needed. The 7 km road back out from Sulphur Gates got nice and slick overnight, and we were once again glad to have a 4WD tow vehicle. To the south on Highway 40, we got a couple snow flurries and the temp dipped to about 34 degrees as we skirted the Willmore Wilderness Area that abuts Jasper to the north. #dirtyairstreampics #airstream #airstreamtoalaska #liveriveted #myrivetedlife #hahahesaidabuts

Made it to Jasper. #airstreamintherearview #airstream #jasper #alberta

Going for the record of most glacial rivers seen before 14 months of age. #childhoodunplugged #jasper #athabascariver #athabascafalls #alberta

These waters run from the Athabasca Glacier about an hour down the Icefields Parkway (which we'll visit in a couple days!) for thousands of miles north all the way to the Arctic Ocean. #athabascafalls #athabascariver #jasper #alberta #makesmehavetopee

I saw a picture of @advodna_dave yesterday without a beard and thought he looked ridiculous. Turns out it's not the beard. Photo credit: Wynne 📷 #goofball #jasperbrewingco #jasper

After Mae dropped one of Wynne's prized stuffed kitties on the hike out to the Root Glacier a few weeks ago and we couldn't find it on the way back, we've instituted a strict "(Stuffed) Pets Must Be On Leash" policy for hikes, especially when they overlap with nap times. Within minutes of starting our hike along Maligne Lake today, Mae was passed out and the orange kitty was dangling sickeningly by her tiny green noose, gruesome but still a scene much preferred to the discovery of her mid-hike disappearance. Of course, then Wynne managed to drop a glove 1/2 a mile from the parking lot. As the woman whose accent I recognized as matching that of my cousins in a South Carolina said as she passed us on the trail, "Well bless your hearts," which I know enough to know basically translates as "That is not something I'd do." #childhoodunplugged #childhoodunawake #jasper #malignelake #alberta #parkscanada #fulltimefamilies