Wednesday, May 31, 2006

The Preperation...


We have taken several long vacations in the past, but this will definitely be the longest. Previously, on our trips to Colorado and Wyoming, we did not take a TV in the van. However, the trip up the Alcan highway is long and boring, so we decided to make an exception and rigged up our laptop to play DVD's. We have an iBook already, so I bought a cig adapter for it and an FM transmitter to play the sound through the van speakers. I got a Belkin Tunecast II from Amazon and it seems to work great so far. We played a DVD on the way to Grandma's house and it all worked fine. I hooked up an extra cig plugin under the front seat for the laptop. It should work fine.
Here is a list of DVD's:

  • Star Trek Next Generation - Season 3
  • Brady Bunch - Season 3
  • Johnny Quest - Season 1

We also got an Agatha Christy Book on CD (The Murder of Roger Ackroyd) and a some Lake Wobegon CD's . Finally, we got some Puzzle books, and the game: Mind Trap. All this should keep us busy when things get boring.
We have already briefed the kids on boring. They are expecting it! We are all taking books and I am excited that for the first time on a long trip, I will not have to drive most of the way. Cory and Chris will be driving also, and since there are limited roads in Canada and Alaska, I will not have to make sure we are on the right one!

Saturday, May 20, 2006

The idea...


Before Chris and I got married I told her of a dream I had to make a trip to Alaska. Well, I also had an idea to drive the length of South America also, but that has become a little unrealistic. However, after 3 kids and 18 years of marriage, we have decided to take the trip! This blog will chronicle our adventures as we attempt a 4,500 mile trip from Tremont, Illinois to Anchorage, Alaska via Glacier National Park, Banff Alberta, Tok, Alaska, and Denali National Park.