Fun food with Emmett

Lately Emmett has been really into hanging out with me in the kitchen, whether it is baking bread, making dinner, putting together a fruit smoothie, he really seems to enjoy our time together in the kitchen. Today I wanted to make a sweet treat that wasn't so heavy, so looking through the internet we decided on frozen banana split bites. Make with a cashew cinnamon sauce and drizzled with chocolate and walnuts, we both can't wait to try them once they come out of the freezer!              

Life Is a Bummer Sometimes!

Well I got a frustrated and sad call from David today. It appears that people in this world are just down right mean! David had pulled into camp early in the afternoon in Grand Cache, Alberta, Canada and had started to set up camp when it began to rain, so he decided to hold off and go photograph. While he was gone someone cut down his tarp, took our box of cooking camp gear (stove, utensils, bowls, pot...) and left! A total of probably $500 worth of gear!! The good thing is David is fine, he had none of his camera equipment, computer, wallet or tent stolen.

He decided to drive through toward the city he will be replacing a lot of the gear tomorrow (slightly out of the way but necessary) and I will be putting a claim in tomorrow with our renters insurance. It is sad and hard that this had to happen at all, especially on a dreary day but I am so thankful that David is ok and reminded both him and myself that everything that was taken can be replaced.


On a positive note we were able to Skype with David tonight since he ended up at a motel and Emmett was very chatty which made it all the more fun for both David and I.

I ask everyone to say a quick prayer for David when you read this for a smooth recovery from the lost gear and safe travels the last two weeks before coming home.

Heading South!

David is officially heading home but of course heading home is relative. He is still way up in Yukon, Canada. I did talk to him last night and he sounds wonderful! He is not photographing the moon this week, still photographing but without the moon being apart of it he can sleep and relax some.

Two nights ago he had a wonderful evening at a home near Whitehorse that belong to a couple that met him camping in Alaska. The couple was gracious enough to offer him a place to stay and he enjoyed a delightful evening with them and their 18month old. From them we learned the total population of the Yukon is 32,000! That is smaller than the town we grew up in and the Yukon Territory is larger than Washington State. They also did not have running water in their home until just two years ago!

 David also shared some stories from the infamous highway north of fairbanks where he was warned to bring two spare full size tires, extra gas, and know that it is very expensive to be rescued if things went wrong. He said that the highway was in better shape up there than some of the paved highway he had driven on south of Fairbanks. He said that most of what he saw was incredible trucks carrying equipment north to oil drilling, most of them oversized. This is the highway that the reality TV show, Ice Road Truckers, films on a lot.
During his trip David has seen quite a selection of wildlife including a moose and her calves, a black bear and her cubs, bald eagles, hawks, and deer. No grizzly bears thankfully!

Tonight he will be staying at Laird Hot Springs which everything I read about says it is beautiful, it is a natural hot springs/river that you can enjoy and may even enjoy with some wildlife as well. Many visitors write that they had visits from moose, buffalo and bears while soaking. David is thankful to be heading home and we are officially past the 1/2 way mark.

Officially in Alaska

I just spoke with David a couple minutes ago, he is officially in Alaska. He camped just over the border two nights ago but had no cell and internet service, but he is doing well. He sounds very busy and a bit tired but hopefully we will be able to talk to him longer tonight and here how he's been doing :-) Only a week from teh Arctic Circle!

Big Horn Sheep

David is staying a motel tonight with a big horn sheep mounted above the front desk. He showed us on Skype as well as an elk which Emmett decided was a tiger. Staying at a motel means some luxuries but also a lot of work I found out. David has been getting laundry done, mapping out the next week of driving, campgrounds and grocery stops as well as cleaning out/organizing the car, showering, skyping with us and of course drinking some bourbon.

He looks clean but very tired, staying up late and getting up early, and driving all day with a broken car radio. I think he is looking forward to the week of the new moon where he won't be able to photograph a couple nights and be forced to sleep more. But we are all happy he is doing so wonderfully.

Internet service but no cellphone service!

We skyped with David tonight, he had no cell phone service but he had internet service so he went on Skype, saw Colleen (my sister) was on so he sent her a message asking her to call me and have me go on skype. And it worked!

He looks really good, relaxed, proud of how things are going so far. It was such a relief to see him and Emmett had a ton of fun talking to him. He emailed us some pictures that I thought I would share with everyone.

This is the roof garden he photographed from in Vancouver, breathing taking view, isn't?

This was often the type of scenery he was looking at while on Cedar Sky HWY, it makes me feel small in the world but so thankful to be here to enjoy it.

Here David is on top of the fire watch tower where he photographed around Wednesday. I guess he camped inside and photographed through the windows which seems cool. What little we can see over his left shoulder, the view looks amazing.

When I asked about this photograph, David said that there is a lot of farm land and he is hoping he is brave enough to ask someone if he can photograph on their property and catch the moon ellipse in a hayfield. It does seem like a beautiful idea.

This wooden man was seen on his way past Prince George, ha! 

I asked David to take candid shots of himself throughout the trip, of course here he is being silly. He was hoping to camp here at Lake Burns however it was quite full, and full of people who were homeless and living a the campground. He found another campground that was still pretty cool.

Another breathtaking view while he is driving.

As I mentioned I think on facebook, we were doing a beer tour as we drove through California and Oregon, so he has continued to tradition however he said B.C. beer is expensive and terrible so he bought beer from Montreal.

He is off toward Watson Lake tomorrow. And thank you to everyone who continues to keep him in your prayers for safe travels.

David's Map

I spoke with David last night on the phone, he is doing very well. He was sitting by the fire, all his photo equipment set up for the moon shot, enjoying some bourbon.

He is missing everyone very much but he also is meeting some very nice people. He enjoyed chatting with a gentleman, who I believe he said was from Finland but I could be mistaken. This young man borrowed his hatchet to chop wood and chopped some for David as well hence sitting by the fire with bourbon.

The next two days David is planning on trying to find a motel to stay one night to be able to skype with Emmett and myself as well as shower. Emmett is not a big fan of talking on the phone but last night he did say 'I love you' to David when I put him on speaker phone.

Below is the map that David left me that I am updating as he goes, writing some short stories, tagging where he is staying. I believe by posting the URL here, you can all see it and keep up where he is as well.

Please keep him in your prayers.

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=210368009599651438183.0004dc2419293762fa20f&msa=0&ll=54.657946,-127.617187&spn=2.70117,6.679688