(Mis)Adventures Heading North!

We left Vancouver, B.C. around noon yesterday, and drove through Canada until about half an hour ago. Long push! It's a good thing we fueled up on cream puffs and maple machiattos before embarking.

One point of interest for us ladies was when our lives flashed before our eyes in the form of two deer hopping out less than 15 feet in front of us while we were speeding along at approximately 75 miles an hour (or should we be proper and say 120 kilometers an hour, eh?). The Mazda 3's brakes proved to function in full-form as Amber shoved her foot down hard. We locked up and skidded for about 30-40 feet, narrowly missing the deer, and inducing full-on adrenaline rushes for all three of us girls.

The car halted in one final lurch. Silence...save for our pounding hearts.

Then a click, and Jordan's voice over the walkie-talkie: "Uhhh, do you want us to take the lead?" A shaky "Yes, please," in response. The best part was when Amber looked down at her left hand, and there, piping hot, was a freshly purchased cup of Tim Horton's coffee, not missing a drip.

Driving through the night along Highway 29 was a bit treacherous. We must have seen thousands of deer. Also two wolves, a moose, a caribou, and what we think was some sort of badger. We were glad to see the sun come up as we hopped on to the Alcan. Well, we could have gone without seeing the bloated, belly-up moose (whose face looked alarmingly like Jay Leno, which was admittedly a little satisfying) on the side of the road.

It became a bit of a problem when we were trying to take turns driving, but all struggling to take naps in between. Sleep was not coming easily, and so, as an experiment, we decided to try a mild tranquilizer that Amber uses to fall asleep on Jordan. Amber takes a half a tablet a night, so judging by Jordan's size, we figured two tablets would be just about right. The result: A drooling, snoring, mumbling, delirious mammoth who was completely useless to us.

It was a bit scary when we thought we ripped the bottom of Sara's car clean off on a rock that couldn't be avoided. It made a ghastly clunk and flew out the back and into the air about 10 feet. We were not pleased at the prospect of traveling the rest of the Alcan Fred Flinstone-style, and so it was a pleasant surprise to see that the bottom of the car was, and is, still intact.

Several cups of coffee, chinese fire-drills, rounds of "Would you rather...?" via walkie talkie, and staggered naps later, we are here at the Northern Rockies Lodge, waiting for the sun to set, whereupon we will be plunging ourselves into the wonderfulness of the Liard Hot springs.

Life is good once again!