Our car loaded and ready to go!

It is Saturday, October 22 and we are in the Rough Rider Hotel just west of Bismarck, North Dakota, in the "heart" of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  The start of our "excellent adventure"  was at 6 a.m. this morning, with a good breakfast at Allene's Cafe in Eau Claire WI (actually, it was in my mom's kitchen - pancakes, eggs and sausage!).  With everything that we need (everything we own!) in our car, we started our trek to Juneau, Alaska,with a high state of anticipation and excitement.  I must admit that the last few days were quite emotional as we prepared to leave our home, but the decision we made was faith-based and we know it was the right decision for us.  With our apologies to those who must live in Minnesota and North Dakota, we took full advantage of the increased freeway speeds and made excellent time through those barren lands (really).  However, the photos I'm sharing here are from the last 20 minutes of our 10 hour drive and were the most incredible scenery I've seen in a long time!

Painted Canyon

The prairies of the upper mid-west were vast - you could literally see for 50 miles - and dotted with large farms and the familiar round, rolled hay bales. As we drove west out of Bismarck, the scenery changed into "buttes" and we stopped at the scenic view of Painted Canyon, the northern edge of the Badlands.  It was awe-inspiring!  Aside from the views, our travel has been uneventful - (we stopped at Fargo and took our picture with the famous wood-chipper from the movie - how boring is that?)-  and we appreciate your prayers and good thoughts for that safe travel.  Tomorrow, we drive through Montana and the start of the portion of the Alaskan Highway that we will take, starting in Great Falls.  Enjoy the photos!  Love, Bill & Sharon