Day 6

Seating arrangements aren't just for weddings.

Wow. It’s weird to think we’re starting our 6th day of road tripping. My husband and I have talked about going on a road trip over a complete summer when we’re retired; driving all around the United States seeing sights, visiting touristy and non-touristy places, discovering food places specific to where we are, etc… We would rent a little car and just go from hotel to hotel. I’m thinking I could totally do that for a summer! Also, I LOVE driving on highways and local backroads. You see more country that way.


We made a seating arrangement change. Jessica is in the front with my dad, Mackenzie is in the back, Skyler and I are in the middle. It’s quite spacious here. All the kids are “separated” for a day of driving so that they can have their “alone space”. 😂

Infomercial...

Side note: these travel unit things that go on the back of the driver and passenger seats are AMAZING! They hold a ton of stuff, it’s easily accessible (even for my 4 year old), and it utilizes space that would have been “wasted”. If you have kids and are wanting to road trip - totally buy them! (Amazon!)

Trees block the fun...

Mackenzie got to pick an activity to do on the drive when we stayed at my sister’s in-laws in Montana. It came from Julie's "grandma box" she keeps for the grandkids. (Huge thank you again to Doug and Julie! You guys were awesome!) She asked for it today and said, “Mom, can you hand me my dinosaur thing? Because this is the part that is boring. All the trees are blocking the fun.” 😂😂


Green and Fog

MOOSE! We saw a moose running into the woods (too quickly for me to catch a picture.) Darkest brown on a moose that I’ve ever seen. I love moose though. I think they’re my spirit animal. 😊


Skyler keeps saying, “This is just so green! I’ve never seen green like this in Utah! Everywhere is so green!” It’s so cute!


Drove into some gorgeous fog conditions. Yes, I said gorgeous fog. Followed by LOTS of crazy construction.

Beaverlodge, AB, CA

THE GIANT BEAVER!!! This is such a fun little quirky spot! It’s a giant beaver located at Beaverlodge, Alberta. 😂 There was an entrepreneur who wanted there to be something fun to draw tourists to his quaint town. And it worked! It’s a favorite pit stop of mine on the road.

Dawson Creek

We made it! This is the “official” start of the Alaska-Canadian Highway (called the Alcan for short). We HAD to take a picture by the sign at the start. Had to. My kids were cracking me up. They seriously rock. 

Skyler and Jessica were so excited to see a sticker of Dipper from the Disney show “Gravity Falls”. They told me I HAD to take a picture of them with it! (Photography-itis! It’s beginning!) 

There is also a statue in the round-about behind the sign where the survey engineer guy is pointing north to Alaska. We HAD to mimic him. It is cracking me that we’re all pointing in different directions. HAHA!

Dawn and Dave

While we were there we met this cute couple, Dawn and Dave, from Pennsylvania on their motorcycles. They plan to ride to Skagway. They were so sweet to take some pictures of us and then I took some pictures of them. I asked if they would take a selfie with me (because we’re new friends now) and they said yes. Seriously, the nicest couple!

Joy bringer

Somehow Mackenzie got it into her head that if you lay down in the elevator while it’s moving, it’s like a ride. She does this now in any new elevator. 🤣😂


Also, when we got to our hotel, I saw Mackenzie walk over and pick some yellow wildflowers. When I asked what they were for, she said she was going to give them to the front desk lady when we checked in. The front desk lady (whose name is Kim) was surprised and said no one had ever brought her flowers at work before. It was so sweet. As we left to go upstairs Mackenzie said, “Bye Kim. I love you!” Kim smiled and said back, “I love you too Mackenzie!” Honestly, the world needs more Mackenzie’s. Imagine if we all truly treated people like that, strangers or not. It makes me think of the line from John Lennon’s song, “Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us and the world will be as one.” She is truly a joy bringer. ❤️

DAIRY QUEEN!

'Nuff said.