let's start at the very beginning

August 2, 2013

Day: 1 month until departure
Total Mileage: 0

This fall marks our 10 year anniversary of being in love and 7 years of marriage.  What better way to celebrate spending 1/3 of my life with someone than to partake on an epic journey?  And with a 22-month old.  Welcome to the Malcolm Journey to Alaska 2013!

Why Alaska?  Ever since CJ and I have known each other, we've plotted our adventure North.  We bought our "Big Girl" (BG), a 2500 Dodge Ram Diesel, 7 years ago with every intention of taking her north within a year or two.  A year later we bought our greatest investment to this day - the Poptop.  We could taste Alaska.

But, alas, time ticks on.  We moved from San Diego to Grand Teton to Yellowstone to Grand Canyon.  We acquired a dog (Owen) and a kid (Colter) along the way.  We ventured to China, Ireland and Italy.  We road-tripped to Mexico and throughout the Southwest.  In fact, we've driven BG close to 150,000 miles since she joined our family.  BG's charged through feet of snow, forged rivers, crawled over boulders and sank into sand on the beach.  And that's just a sampling of her ability.

And now it's 7 years later and we're finally making the dream happen. 

I admit our trip has morphed quite a bit over the years.  At first, we dreamed of a 6 month endeavor throughout the state of Alaska- perhaps even picking up odd jobs along the way for some income.  As time ticked on, we came to terms with a 3 month adventure.  Today? 5 weeks sounds heavenly.

You may think we're crazy to attempt 8,000+ miles with our 22 month-old, Colter.  I admit some days I have my doubts.  He's done long road trips since he was 4 weeks old (his first 1,000 mile journey to Southern California). They haven't all been "calm".  But, we've got some tricks up our sleeves and I can't imagine Alaska without him. I know he will bring a sense of wonder to our vacation that we would otherwise miss.

I think the saddest thing will be leaving our faithful 3 year-old puppy, Owen.  I know he would love to lay in the truck with us and drive thousands of miles, but he will be better suited in California with Grandma and Grandpa.  We will miss him dearly.  Don't worry, O, we'll bring home some salmon for you.

Preparations are already months underway.  Join us in our last month before we leave.  The list grows.  Our excitement explodes. 

ALASKA.