From AK to AZ

Leaving Alaska

Entering Yukon Territory

A brown bear eating berries by the highway near Kluane Lake

The Wises are moving to Flagstaff, AZ. I know it's been a long time. Obviously, I've been very busy. When we were in Flagstaff for Sarah's graduation, we met some really nice people who offered us jobs at their family practice. Two years later, we are moving to Arizona. We are hoping Matt's new job will allow him to spend more time with our family. It's like he is going from four jobs down to one. He will continue to practice family medicine, but give up working in the Emergency room, Obstetrics, Hospital Medicine and Long Term Care. We have had 12 great years in Alaska. Now it's time for us to try something different.

So here we are, driving to Arizona. Matt and I are driving down with the boys and the dog. Maya will fly down with Nanna and the cat in two weeks. We didn't think 10 days in the car was going to be much fun for a 5 year old, who is a lot like the cat. They are both fiercely independent. But unlike the cat, Maya doesn't like to lie around for 20 hours per day.

Yesterday we drove 411 miles, from Homer to Glenallen. Today we made it across the Canadian border. We are spending the night in Haines Junction. We ate dinner at the only restaurant open after 9pm. It is run by some very nice German people (but the food is not German). They used to live in Whitehorse but it got too crowded for them. Tomorrow we hope to be in Whitehorse before lunch, and then spend the afternoon at Liard Hotsprings.

The highlight of our trip today was seeing a brown bear on the side of the road, munching on berries. We have also seen one young bull moose, one cow and one baby moose, two swans and a lot of ravens.