Alaska!!!

We crossed into Alaska today.

We have traveled 5,107 miles. I wonder how many dogs have traveled from Texas to Alaska?

It is a wonderful day!

Moose on the Loose

We saw moose! We are still traveling in Canada. It is so beautiful here. We see more and more lakes and marshland. There are more and more creeks and rivers.

Moose love marshy areas and bogs. They like to eat the tender vegetation under the water. We are beginning to see lots of moose. Mom took photos of a baby moose. The next day, she took this photo of a moose cow.

Moose are wonderful creatures. They are the largest member of the deer family. Male moose can weigh as much as 1,600 pounds. They can live to be about 20 years old.

The male moose grow enormous antlers. Sometimes the antlers grow to be 4-1/2 to 5 feet across! In the spring, their antlers fall off.

If you would like to learn more about moose, go to these sites:
http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/kids/animal-facts/pdf/moose.pdf
and
http://www.sylvandellpublishing.com/ForCreativeMinds/Moose_FCM.pdf

My First Swim!

We arrived at Muncho Lake at Mile Marker 436 on the Alaska Highway today.

We set up camp at a beautiful lakeside site. We are having so much fun. (Except for that mooching squirrel problem that I am having!)

Today I got to swim for the first time on our trip. The water was cold and wonderful.

Muncho Lake is a beautiful blue color. The color comes from the glacier. Silt from the glacier travels into Muncho Lake by rivers and streams. When the sun hits the silt, the water turns a beautiful turquoise color.

Wood Bison

While we were driving through Canada, we saw one of their wild wood bison herds. Bison are huge animals. They are the largest land animal in North America.

Many people call these animals buffalo. True buffalo only live in Africa.



North America has two kinds of bison. We have plains bison and wood bison. They are cousins and look very similar. Wood bison live in Canada and Alaska. Plains buffalo live in western Canada and the lower 48 states.

You can tell the two kinds of bison apart. The wood bison are bigger than plains bison. Wood bison have smaller beards and their humps are more square.

There are only a few wild wood bison herds left in the world. We feel so lucky to have seen these!

For more information on wood bison, go to http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/documents/wbison.pdf

The Moocher

There is a moocher in our camp. I spied him this morning, snitching dog food out of my bowl.

I chased him up a tree.

But he came back again.

So I chased him up another tree.

He chattered at me. I think that he was saying, "nanny nanny boo boo" in squirrel talk.

I may have to spend my whole day watching out for this moocher!

Stone Sheep

Today we saw lots of Stone sheep along the road. These sheep are at home in the mountains.

Stone sheep are a part of the thinhorn sheep family. Other kinds of thinhorn sheep include the white Dahl sheep.

We found many Stone sheep on the roads. At first it looked like they were eating rocks. We read that they are actually licking salt and minerals along the side of the road.

Because it snows a lot in Canada, many of the roads are salted to keep the roads safe. The Stone sheep like to lick the salt.

Thinhorn sheep like to live in groups. They have their babies in the spring so that their mothers have plenty of green vegetation to eat. These sheep can live to be nearly 20 years old.

To read about thinhorn sheep, go to http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/documents/thinhorn.pdf

Meet Ozzie!

Mom and Dad have been having trouble setting up the tent. It takes a long time. It is hard work. It is especially hard in a rain or wind storm.

Before we left for Alaska, they looked on the computer at this trailer. It is small and easy to set up. It has a nice bed and lots of storage room. It even has room for me! We decided to stop in the town of Wetaskiwin to look at it.

We liked it so much that we bought the trailer yesterday. We named him Ozzie. Here are some pictures of Ozzie and me. I know that we will have lots of fun together!