Yes, It's Really Happening!

On June 2, 2025 Brian and I will start our journey to our new home in Kodiak, Alaska! We are so excited to start this new chapter as Brian continues his work as an MH60 Pilot for the U.S. Coast Guard. Our drive from Traverse City MI to Homer AK will take us just over 4,000 miles from the upper Midwest through Canada and eventually to the Alaskan border crossing in Tok. Our last leg will be aboard the MV Tustumena ferry for a 9.5 hour trip to the island.

We will be towing a 22' Jayco travel trailer and staying at campgrounds along our journey. As of this entry today, Friday May 30th, we're all packed up with everything aboard and all the comforts of home! Follow along with us as I use this space to document our journey! This will hopefully include daily or close to daily updates from the road as we travel - dependent on internet access of course. Expect lots of photos, hopefully a humorous story or two, and a list of any and all wildlife sightings. If you have an iPhone you can also send us a text to be added to a shared album of photos. I'll do my best to add photos to our posts here.

Where the F is Kodiak Anyway?

Kodiak is a large outlying island at the base of the Aleutian chain. It lies just east of the Katmai National Park and Preserve in the Gulf of Alaska. Although the island is 3,595 square miles and the second largest island in the United States, only a small portion is inhabited and accessible via road.

Coast Guard personnel make up a significant portion of the population and Coast Guard Base Kodiak is one of the largest in the service. You may be slightly familiar with Air Station Kodiak if you've watched the Kevin Costner classic, The Guardian. Be sure to give it a watch if you haven't seen it before!

Air Station Kodiak utilizes both the Sikorsky MH60 Jayhawk helicopter and the Lokheed C130 Hercules fixed wing aircraft. Both are an integral part of Search and Rescue (SAR) operations in the area. During certain fishing seasons, helicopters will be stationed on other outlying island in the Aleutian chain for weeks at a time to be ready at a moment's notice for fishermen and/or boaters in trouble.

About the Journey

Our trip involves roughly 78 hours of driving. That means we'll be splitting up our journey into a series of legs. We will alternate between 1 and 2 night stays at each location to give us time to enjoy the experience.

The Legs:

Begin: Monday, June 2, 2025

Traverse City - Marquette MI

Marquette MI - Duluth MN

Duluth MN - Devil's Lake ND

Devil's Lake ND - Regina SK (Canada)

Regina SK - Calgary AB

Calgary AB - Banff AB

Banff AB - Jasper AB

Jasper AB - Ft. St. John BC

Ft. St. John BC - Liard River BC

Liard River BC - Whitehorse YT

Whitehorse YT - Tok AK

Tok AK - Valdez AK

Valdez AK - Anchorage AK

Anchorage AK - Seward AK

Seward AK - Homer AK

End/Kodiak Arrival: Friday, June 27, 2025

The Map:

The Boat:

The last leg of our journey will be a 9.5 hour boat ride on the MV Tustumena, a ferry boat within the Alaska Marine Highway fleet.

Follow Along in Real Time!

Our Garmin InReach GPS device allows anyone to track our location in real time as we drive. You can access live location via this link. When the device is on, it updates our live location every 10 minutes.

We are so excited to start this journey! We'll be spending lots of time in the car so please send us your favorite podcast and/or audio book recommendations!

Wish us luck!

Sam