Charles Pinckney National Historic Site, HIstoric Charleston City Market, Angel Oak

A last minute travel decision led us to the coast of Carolina visiting family and tourist attractions.

With Grandmama's as our home base, we trekked through horrendous traffic across beautiful bridges and waterways to one of the plantation homes of Charles Pinckney, an author and signer of the U.S. Constitution. My principal reason for choosing this national historic sight was because it was free, however it tied in nicely with our two high-schoolers' studies who are learning Government and the Constitution this year.

Before touring the house, we explored the trails outside. My nephews spotted and captured a couple of lizards. We read about the plantation slaves, and the farming in the area.

Inside the home, we browsed a bit, then watched the short documentary on Charles Pinckney, his family and the historical events during his lifetime. Of special interest was a Gullah Bible (sea island creole language of the African-Americans) lying on the table. We giggled as we tried to mimic the southern dialect as printed.

Charleston's market is a fun place to browse. Local artists of all sorts display their trinkets and wares. It is especially enjoyable at Christmas-time, when the holiday décor and music is abundant.

We slipped down a less-crowded side street to get back to our vehicle, and just had to pause inside this tempting candy store. The smells wafting into the air were marvelous, and they were even giving samples of gooey, melty, warm-from-the-oven pralines.

Our next jaunt of exploration (another fine southern winter day) was to Angel Oak, an enormous and very old live oak tree on Johns Island.

We popped by my uncle's boiled peanut stand for some regular and Cajun goobers.

Last, but not least, we gathered with the family for a Thanksgiving feast and fun.

Don't forget the brown rice, mac-n-cheese, collard greens, and fried cornbread!

Kitwanga to Prince George, British Columbia ~Alaska Trip Day 46

Thursday morning, we wanted to keep moving, so before 8 a.m. we walked down the steps and up Battle Hill in Kitwanga where we had spent the night. How fitting that an eagle soared overhead as we learned of the great Gitwangak chief that had previously dominated this area.

Since fuel in Canada is sold by the liter, to calculate gallons, we multiply by 3.785. However their dollar is about $.80 of the U.S. dollar, so that adds another twist to calculations. We generally paid with our credit card that automatically gave us the daily conversion rate without an additional percentage tacked on. The grand total mileage for this trip was 9,400...averaging the gas price to $2.73 per gallon.

We stopped at the Hazelton cabin visitor center and the Vanderhoof visitor center & heritage museum.

And we found another playground park in Prince George to fix and eat supper nearby.

Alaska Highway: Beavercreek to Whitehorse, Yukon ~Alaska Trip Day 43

We had bypassed this portion of the Alaska Highway when we drove north from Whitehorse to Dawson City. When planning the route, I tried not to backtrack as much as possible, but once actually driving midst this gorgeous scenery, we realized the view going the opposite direction was equally impressive! We really would have seen different eyefuls of wonder had we traveled this same route a month prior. Now we could see the white-tops of the St. Elias Range (Remember that huge icefield within this national park?) as we moved southeast.

Kluane Lake

Haines junction

We made it to Whitehorse in time for an evening stroll by the Yukon River before supper and nightfall. In the Yukon, Land of the Midnight Sun, we had noticed the elongated days the beginning of August. Now we are seeing it get dark much earlier. Another adjustment!

Rotary Peace Park exercise equipment

Last Day in Alaska! ~Alaska Trip Day 42

This morning we waited on the gate to open at Wrangell-St. Elias National Park Visitor Center. We really enjoyed this stop and stayed quite awhile longer than anticipated. The girls ended up doing Junior Ranger books; there were neat displays of animal scat, skulls, & fur, a professional Imax kind of film, hot drinks by donation, and fellow travelers from Maine that chatted up a storm. The largest concentration of glaciers in the world is located within the park boundaries. One glacier alone is larger than Rhode Island; the whole park is bigger than Switzerland, and the mountains are higher!

The rest of the day we drove and drove, pausing in Tok for last minute postcards mailed from AK, and yummy food from the Thai wagon.

Just before crossing back into Yukon, we made another rest stop at the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge visitor center. The building was closed, but the restrooms were open, and the trail down to the Trapper's Cabin. We ended our day with an invigorating hike, singing loudly while watching for bears in the bushes.

Goodbye "The Last Frontier!"