Inaugural Van Trip

With the new van in possession, we packed up and headed north. The trip started late on Friday and kids were tired ( adults too) and we soon realized that we forgot some essential gear. Without a place to stay, we debated turning back and starting again Saturday morning. We wound up crashing at a friend's cabin and borrowing essential gear from the cabin. The mosquitoes were bloodthirsty and relentless...and we slept indoors...so,

we drove all the way to Cantwell, and hopped on the Denali Highway towards Paxson. We had never been on the Denali Highway as a family and so the girls each got a turn to drive.

We found a great campground 30 miles in at Brushkana Creek and Sadie immediately got to work on Berry cakes. The campground was covered with cranberry and blueberry plants.

Maren hit the river in hopes of grayling.

Bugs were pretty thick and so David had the brilliant idea to set up the screen house along the river so we could enjoy some riverside chill out time. Charlie immediately hopped in to find respite from the mosquitoes.

Screenhouse was the place to be.

The girls preferred the river. 

Upon arriving at the campground, the skies cleared, the sun did its thing and it got HOT!

Our little spot on the Brushkana

The girls made rocks.

Uh, sticks please!

Fairy mud cakes

The little forest fairy herself gathering cake ingredients.

If she wasn't eating rose petals, she was concocting a fairy snack.

After dinner, we hiked up to the flat tundra above the campground.

The tundra's alive with fields of Alaska cotton!

Looking down on Brushkana Creek

We actually hiked caribou trails above the creek.

More post-hike screen house time for a freshie beer and family wind down.

Our view from the screen house.

The river keeps the beer cold.

Denali Highway tired them out.

Well, we love the new van. It was fun to get in the van without a destination and see where we wound up. It brought back memories of our original trip to AK...long hours on the road with not much around. Van = more adventures to come!