Photos galore

• The Journey to Kodiak: Pictures of us: Our route: North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Colorado, Utah, Oregeon, Washington, Alaska, Canada and Alaska.
  
  
• The Journey to Kodiak: Friends and family: We didn't get pictures everywhere but saw many friends (and met some new ones, thanks to Robin's quest to 'meet new people'). Thanks to all for your hospitality!
  
  
• Roadblock in Wanchese: Let the move begin!
  
  
• Florida trip: A quick trip to warmer weather before the move to Kodiak.
  
  
• Bluefin fishing: Fishing with John, Carla, brother Tim and Doug while still in North Carolina (forget that Robin just had shoulder surgery!).
  
  
• Striper fishing: Fishing for striper with Doug.

Quotes from the Roadtip

"I like to meet new people."
Robin in response to being asked if we wanted to stay with the parents of my niece's husband. (We had never met the parents ever before!)


"We don't need any of that stuff."
Robin in response to being asked if we wanted any towels during one of our overnight stays. (He didn't want to be a bother to the parents we had never met.)


"There is no bad weather ... only bad clothes."
Our friend Paul from Haines, AK as we watched the snow/slurry fall during our beach picnic and campfire.

Top 10 Roadtrip Tidbits

1. The worst gas mileage was 4.8 MPG, going up an 8% grade in passing gear with our "light" load.
2. Most interesting thing in our "light" load: a set of bear claws being salted down and dried out. (From Robin's bear he got in December ... the paws had been in the freezer until the week before our move when Robin took out the claws.)
3. Another interesting thing packed was fresh bluefin tuna from Robin's latest 226 lb. + catch. (And some bear sausage and halibut, of course).
   
4. Bowling Green, KY gas stations are all owned by one person. This monopoly results in an extreme gas hike on Thursdays (you can set your watch by it). Within one hour, all the gas station prices in town went up 33 cents.
5. Do not, repeat, do not engage the border guards in Canada or in the U.S. in any sort of conversation other than the task at hand: getting across the border without inspections. It's illegal to take any sort of animal hide, rack (and maybe bear claws?) into Canada. In addition, this is not the time, repeat NOT the time, to ask about transporting firearms.
   
6. Red beer is a delicious drink. I tried it and liked it, plus the recipe is really easy: One glass of cold beer and some cold tomato juice to taste. It sounds nasty but it's really good.
7. Don't buy an atlas that is on sale. Robin found what seemed like a really good deal from Big Lots: $5 for a 2011 atlas. While looking up our route for Utah and Washington, we discovered that it was missing all the states that came after the letter "T."
   
8. Temperatures ranged from 84 degrees in North Carolina to -2 degrees in Frisco, Colorado.
   
9. We had snow in every state, including a record 5" in St. Louis, MO and white out conditions that forced us to pull over on the interstate in Oregon.
10. It is still colder in Iowa than in Alaska. This week it has been unusually sunny with blue skies and 50 degree temperatures in Kodiak, while Iowa has it 20 degrees and 4 inches of new snow!