January 10, 2003

From Denver, we stopped going west and turned north towards Wyoming. We were looking forward to seeing the beautiful mountains in Wyoming and Montana. So far, we had not seen any snow. It had been a mild winter everywhere. We drove through Fort Collins, Colorado on Highway 25 and into Wyoming. There really weren't as many mountains to see as we thought. The only ones we really thought were cool were the Bighorn Mountains. Route 25 must not show you all the scenery in Wyoming. You can see the route we took by clicking here (this opens a new window that you can close when you're finished viewing the map)

Our goal being to get through Wyoming in one day and Montana the next, we got to Sheridan at the very north portion of Wyoming. It was here, I really started to freeze my butt off. We stopped at a Walmart, and I bought some warm socks and some warm-"looking" boots. I was to find out later how useful these boots would be in Alaska. At least my feet were a little warmer, and I didn't feel like such a dummy.

We stayed at the Days Inn in Sheridan, Wyoming. They let us stay with our dog and cat for a small pet deposit, also. They were very friendly and a very clean motel. If you're ever needing to stay somewhere in Sheridan, Wyoming, you can call them at (307) 672-2888. We proceeded to perform our insane "Rearrange the truck" ritual. Good grief, that was really getting old. We were still carrying in too much crap and had not yet learned to downsize our luggage.

January 11, 2003

This was our day to get through Montana and hopefully see some beautiful mountains, too. We missed out on the beautiful mountains. They must've been in another part of the state. We did, however, get stuck behind a truck with an old beat up Alaska license plate and a camper stuck on top of the bed. He had this cooler strapped to the top of the camper with bungie cords, and we were sure it was going to fall off and crash through our windshield.

We named him "Bob" and began hysterically laughing (we were still pretty tired) every time we would stop to get a soda or use the rest room. This was because "Bob" must've decided to stop, too. Every time we would take off again, we'd be stuck behind him again on winding 2 lanes where it was pretty much impossible to pass.

We took Highway 25 out of Wyoming, up to 90, then over to Hwy 87, then up to the Hwy 15 Junction at Great Falls. You can see this route by clicking here (it will open another window that you can close when you're finished looking).

We really pushed it and got to Shelby that night. This put us almost completely out of the state and ready to drive across the canadian border into Alberta, Canada the next morning.

The trip was starting to get a little easier. We weren't rushing too much, and we were starting to get enough sleep. Tomorrow, we would cross the border into Canada, only to have to cross the US border again later when we got to Alaska.

2nd Leg of Trip - Alberta, Canada

January 12, 2003

The next morning, we were up by 6am and really excited to get into Canada. If you're ever going to take this trip and go through customs in Canada, there are a couple of things that you'll need to know. If you have pets in the car with you, they must be current on rabies and have a health certificate from your vet that is current within about 10 days. You also will want to carry as little alcohol (or none, to make things easier) or cigarettes with you, as these are limited items. The one thing you do not want to have, if possible, is guns in your car. You MAY NOT be able to get across the border. Guns are regulated by their type. The laws are very strict. The other thing is to make sure your driver's license and registration and all that is current and legal.

It's also useful to have either a passport or a birth certificate, especially for children. Canada is very strict about allowing you in with children. They want to make sure you're the legal guardian. They're tough at the border. The best thing to do is to read the regulations on the official Canadian website.

Canadian Border Website

We passed the border patrol without any trouble. He asked us where we were going, why we were in Canada, how long were we staying, if we had any alcohol or cigarettes or guns in the car.

The first thing we noticed when we got into Alberta was the roads. Wow! They were so clean, with no trash and the road signs were very easy to read. We had to start looking at the kilometer portion of the truck's speedometer by this time to make sure we were within the speed limit. We also had to get used to buying gas using liters instead of gallons. The best recommendation I can make is to have a gas credit card like Shell, if possible.

They're everywhere, and that way you don't have to try to pay cash for gas unless you have to. You'll get the best exchange rate with a credit card. The other important thing to do is to find a bank in the first town you come to. Exchange some money into Canadian dollars so you can get the best conversion rate. At the time of this trip, we were getting 1.49 in canadian dollars for every U.S. dollar.

It's also a good idea to have a credit card for your hotel rooms, if you can. That way, you get the conversion rate for that day from the banks. This is always the best rate possible.