Spring in Southern California

(9th – 26th February, 2016)

With blue skies and a spring like 20 °C we left Las Vegas behind us and headed for the second time in the direction of California. We took the US 95 in southern Nevada heading first for the infamous area 51.  Curious, we tried very hard to see anything interesting but alas there was absolutely nothing to see except endless desert – no Aliens, UFOs, experimental Aircraft, or other strange things from all the conspiracy theories – all a big disappointment really! The only thing that even suggested at something out of the ordinary was the Alien Shop at a nearby gas station, other than that there wasn’t anything of interest to see.  Since it was close to dusk we drove a bit off the road in search of an out-of-the-way spot to camp for the night in the hope of at least seeing a UFO… though sadly we saw nothing but the twinkling of the night sky above us.

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Welcome To Fabulous Las Vegas!

(31st January – 09th February, 2016)

Visiting cities with our setup and our available budget is generally quite rare, but with Las Vegas we decided to make an exception.  Right from the start we knew that we wanted to visit and really experience Las Vegas with all that it entailed.  There may be lots of cities in the world but there is no other place that quite compares to the crazy world of Las Vegas. We had to see if for ourselves and what awaited us was well beyond what either of us could imagination.  Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas!

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Utah, Arizona – More Life Elevated

(17th – 30th January, 2016)

Utah didn’t fit in a single article as we originally thought.  We had so many amazing experiences that we couldn’t possibly do it justice trying to pack it all into a single article, not to mention its length would challenge even our most devote readers’ attention span. So the planned one article turned into two…

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Utah – “Life Elevated”

(09th – 16th January 2016)

“Life elevated” was written on the welcome sign to the State of Utah – and that was, in our opinion, not only because of the actual physical elevation of the state but also their general overall attitude towards life. In Utah awaited us one of the most spectacular landscapes that we have ever experienced and one where we could actually describe it all with a single word: WOW!! Read more

Nevada

(22nd December 2015 – 9th January 2016 )

After taking the mountain pass east of Lake Tahoe everything suddenly changed. We almost couldn’t believe the drastic changes that unfolded in front of us. Not only did the landscape change from the deep green of Pines to an aired desert-like landscape we suddenly found ourselves under a clear blue sky with at most a few little clouds scattered in the distance. Our depressed mood lifted slightly and we were even a bit hopeful that things might just be different for us on this side of the mountains.

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US Pacific Coast

(7th – 22nd December 2015)

From Vancouver Island we took the ferry on a particularly rainy day to Port Angeles in Washington State. The weather wasn’t any better than on the Canadian side and apparently it was supposed to stay that way for the foreseeable future. At least the border crossing was easy and I got another 90 days in the USA without any problems (Gary is allowed to stay 6 Months). Although we sort of expected it to be rainy this time of the year we chose the Pacific coast instead of the inland route as it is supposed to be lot warmer than in the mountains. With rather excellent rain gear we didn’t really fear a little rain after all we didn’t bring them along just for the fun of it! Besides it couldn’t possibly rain the whole time – at least that’s what we thought…

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Vancouver Island

(31st October  – 7th December, 2015)

After almost 7 months living like free roaming gypsies we felt that it was time to start thinking a bit about our finances. Our budget was pretty small to begin with and if we wanted to be able to travel longer we would need to sooner or later take a break from travelling and earn some money. Thankfully we (or more correctly one of us) was able to work remotely. Gary’s former employer Contens GmbH had agreed to let him work as a freelancer from time to time – naturally if they have enough work available. Gary had already contacted Contens and arranged work for November and so we needed to find a suitable and affordable apartment, which turned out to be quite a lot more difficult than we imagined. It wasn’t about finding a place in the perfect location or with super amenities or anything like that, it was more important to find a place that had a separate room so that Gary could work undisturbed. Of course and full kitchen and Internet were also a must. We searched the entire southern British Columbia online for apartments or similar only to discover that just about everything was way over our budget. It took quite a while until we finally found a relatively affordable place through AirBnB. Thankfully November is shoulder season so we were able to get a halfway good price too; that the apartment we found was on Vancouver Island was just icing on the cake – we wanted to spend time on the island anyway.

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British Columbia & Alberta

(07th. – 31st. October, 2015)

Saying our goodbyes to the Yukon on the 7th of October we started heading south on the Stewart-Cassiar highway. We didn’t want to drive too long after the late night the day before and it appeared as though we wouldn’t have to search for a wild camping spot either. We stopped at the Boya Lake Provincial Park, mostly out of curiosity, to see if the park was still open this time of year. As we drove the road leading to the park we spotted a bobcat strolling along the roadway; it was probably quite surprised to see tourists so late in the year and bolted for the woods before we had a chance to snap a photo.

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Yukon – Part II

(24th September – 7th October, 2015)

We, more me, were once again nervous with the upcoming border crossing into Canada, although this time not really without cause since my current visitor visa was set to expire in exactly one week. Of course we had looked into the possibilities of extending the visa but no one could guarantee us that I would be allowed back into the country with the extended visa anyway. Besides the processing time for an extension was around about 3 months, and you need to do all kinds of paperwork, provide biometric photos and then also pay 100 CAD. We hadn’t planned on being in Canada for another 3 months anyway so all the trouble of filling out the forms were really a waste of time. We figured we would just “see what happens” at the border crossing. The officer at the Beaver Creek border crossing was very friendly, though he did put on quite a strict face as we explained to him the situation. “Come into my office and we will see what we can do for you guys”, he decided suddenly. Naturally all manner of thoughts started flashing through my head as to what would happen if he said that I had to leave Canada at the end of the week….Gary, of course, was much more relaxed and convinced that that wouldn’t happen. After answering a number of questions about our trip, itinerary, finances and insurance he gave me another 4 month Visa. The officer wished us a continued safe and adventurous journey and we drove somewhat relieved for the second time into the Yukon.

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Alaska

(9th -24th September, 2015)

A border crossing is always quite exciting, you hear all manner of horror stories, especially with US border crossings; and you never really know what to expect. In our case, however, we had absolutely nothing to worry about. The two lady officers at the Poker Creek Border were really exceptionally friendly.

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