Kicking tires to find a good fit

In a few years we plan on being part of the Overlanding community, making our way down to the most southern part of S.America!  We are in the planning/research phase.  It's amazing how many people are doing it.
Things we are focusing on right now:
-downsizing...actually get rid of everything
-narrowing down the vehicle we want to move forward with
-do little camping trips here and there with Stevie
-save money
-get rid of debt
-find a travel handle :)

us doing research in Florida!

We have some friends that are well on their way and they have been inspirational for us. They are getting their rig together as I type this and should be on their way later this year.

Things and rigs we have talked about:

-truck campers: pop up

-pop up roof tents

-vans

-what are have to have items are

We've done lots and lots of reading online, Joe more than me :P. Yesterday we looked at some truck campers to get a feel for the size and to just stand in a few.  We tend to be "feel" people.  We can justify a lot just looking at pictures or floor plans but we have to see it!

not too bad...not a love connection

One of these had a slide out... not on our radar what so ever!

We are good at seeing the pros and cons with everything and with all the information out there it's easy to get caught up in research.  We've decided...bottom line, whatever we choose to go with we will be fine because of how we are.  

Initially in our discussions, Joe was set on the truck camper idea (we really want to have a 4 wheel drive).  I am and was good with that.  My "requirements" are a toilet and the capability of showering inside.  I'm fine with the outdoor shower but when it's cold outside, not a fan.  Everything else is under discussion.  Whenever we do look at something I focus on the storage and layout.  In my Internet viewing I came across the Revel and was hooked on THAT idea.  I came across that when we were in Florida last year.  Since then I have been looking at the Van Life community and following so many people on Instagram that are living out of transit vans etc.  

With this new possibility, Joe and I are looking at van conversions.  Things I like about the van idea...well, the main thing is  we don't have to get out of the vehicle to get in the camper.  We seem to base weather discussions on Medellin in Colombia, don't ask me why it just happened that way.  Joe has the weather for Medellin on his phone and every time he checks it, it's raining!  The last thing I want to be doing in the rain and/or cold is get out of the vehicle to get in or set up our living quarters!  With a van, you park and walk to the back... get settled, make dinner, go to bed :)  One of the reasons we got Stevie to play around in up here in Alaska, was that walk through Class C design!  Plus the safety of it also.  If we are in an area and need to leave quickly, we don't have to worry about getting out to get in to drive off!  We have not ruled out truck campers as of today, but it's quickly loosing in the pro/con list fight with the van!

It's going to be an interesting ride for us emotionally / mentally / and physically.

Day 3 in Canada, 19 September 2017

It’s my passenger day :P  
Joe and I are taking turns driving, he drives a day and I drive a day.  Makes for delayed post but it’s working for our traveling so one person isn’t getting slammed with all the driving.  Driving all day is tiring!
After our glamping experience we drove up through Montana, which is a beautiful state!  We had some traffic problems but we made it to the border without too many delays!

So, we were both nervous about the border crossing because we’ve never done it before.  Of course, we’ve heard a lot of random stories.  We had all our required documents: passports and Tux’s rabies paperwork.  We pulled in and went into a building on the U.S. side.  We walked in and were met with some confused looks.  We explained what was going on and that we were not sure what we needed to do, apparently, we just need to drive up to the Canadian window…. 
Anyway the U.S. guy asked, “why are you crossing here?”, I blurted out “why not?”  which probably wasn’t the best response but oh well, I thought his question was kind of dumb.   He asked if we had an inventory of all of our stuff in the back of our car?!  Nope, and that got us a little nervous but whatever we pressed on.  Drove up to the window and a cute Canadian helped us out, he seemed a little put out by us, or he was just really bored with his job in the middle of nowhere.  He asked us “what did you do with your guns?” It is assumed that all Americans have firearms and when we say we don’t people are confused and at times don’t believe us (this happened in a pub in England also).  Tux was interested in this transaction so poked his head up.  Officer Canada told us to pull forward while he held onto our passports.  We had a concern that they would have us unload our car and do a search so I was not looking forward to that.  We sat for about 10 minutes before another cute Canadian officer came back with our passports, asked Joe for his last four and sent us on our way because we didn’t have any criminal stuff show up. We were all good!

Just like that we are in Canada!

We wanted to take a detour and check out Prince of Wales hotel.  We attempted to go through the Montana way, it’s part of Glacier National Park in Canada but the pass was closed.  We didn’t think much of it and just figured we’d go to it via Canada.  It was our first “bump” of the trip and the road was closed down that would take us to the hotel.  With a quick google search it was clear that the fires that have been impacting the U.S. don’t mind a border and they had evacuated the area.  We heard that the hotel was saved but that area and the visitor center was lost to the fire.  As of the other day it was not listed as contained :(

Lower Alberta seemed like Kansas, flat and a lot of hay bales with cattle grazing. We found a place to stop for the night and walked over to a nearby sports bar for dinner and a drink.  It being Sunday and all it wasn’t overly busy.  Joe got a Canadian beer and I had a Strongbow!  No accents at this place and I noted to Joe that I hadn’t heard the noted “eh” but then the waitress used it and I started to feel that I was truly in Canada!  As of right now… no moose sightings.  We’ve seen deer, wild turkey, cows, horses, and a few llamas.  
Our full day in Canada I was behind the wheel and it was pretty boring, still very Kansas like.  As we started to get further north, we got more trees and right now there is more leaves that are changing so even though it’s raining right now it is pretty.  Yesterday it was pretty hazy with the fires so that can put a damper on any drive!  We drove through Calgary and Edmonton but visibility was poor.
Joe found our place for the night and when we pulled in he stated, “the pictures look a lot better online”.  It was a very simple building, the rain and haze didn’t help, there was a liquor store and lounge attached to it.  I sat in the car while Joe checked in, he comes out and says it’s nice inside!  We load up the cart and head in and it was pretty nice inside.  They were even having a guest appreciation that night, free pasta bar, and free food is always good!  Before going down and being appreciated we hung out in the room and settled for a bit.  Joe had found a nice condo for rent while I was driving so he made some phone calls.  It would be AWESOME to have a place set up prior or right when we get there and we can avoid the apartment hunting!
We heading down to the lodge and Sara, waitress, was awesome.  We got a drink and ordered some apps because we couldn’t decide what we wanted to do, free pasta or order from the menu.  We decided on the pasta.  
One thing I have noticed since being in Canada is the lack of women!  Maybe it’s just in the hotels and sports bars we’ve been frequenting due to seeing them driving around.  When I walked into the sports bar at our first stop, other than the workers there was maybe 2 other women.  Last night at our hotel in the lounge even less women and even more men!  We talked to Sara a little and we found out we were in an area that is going through an oil boom so a lot of transient workers, oil and a railroad.  We wanted to stop in Dawson Creek last night but we couldn’t find a place to stay and Sara said it was because of the workers!  So that makes sense…I did notice that a lot of the towns we were going through were very industrial which would also support a lack of women.  Although I acutely notice that there is not a lot of women, everyone has been very nice and open with us.  I know we stick out a little with our Florida license plate…. I’ve only seen a random Alaska plate!
Today we start on the Alaska Highway, aka ALCAN!