Sunday Summary #146

We made it to ALASKA

Hi there,

Welcome to Scho & Jo’s 146th Sunday Summary. This edition of the Sunday Summary was written in Anchorage, Alaska. It’s been a while since we send an email update, so buckle in - we have a lot to share…

Last Two Months.

Our last update was when we just finished Capitol Reef National Park in early May! It almost seems like last year, with how much we’ve explored since then… After Capitol Reef National Park, we completed our circuit of Utah’s Mighty 5 National Parks. For all being in the same region of the United States, we were shocked with just how different each spot was.

Arches, as the second most popular National Park in the state, as well as one of the most popular National Parks in the country, didn’t disappoint in the slightest. The various and unique arches throughout the park each inspired different feelings, as we spent two days hiking and exploring the park.

Canyonlands National Park was our final National Park in Utah, and the viewpoints were unlike any we’d seen so far. We only had time to explore the Island of the Sky district in Canyonlands, but it made such an impression that it’s the park we’re most excited to go back to, to explore the other three districts!

In late May, we were starting to get some very warm temperatures in Southern Utah so we decided to begin the drive up to Alaska in earnest! With a short stop in Salt Lake City, Utah for Memorial Day - we were officially on the way!

It was a tough decision to drive straight through Idaho and Montana, however getting to Alaska was the goal this year. We knew we’d be coming back to give these states the attention they deserve - so we kept our sights North. We crossed into Canada in Sweetgrass, Montana and quickly made our way to the Canadian rockies. We started a tradition stopping for Poutine and Butter Tarts when arriving to Canada to celebrate with some Canadian treats.

When we visited Canada on our Great Loop in 2022, it was some of our favorite cruising and exploring of our entire Loop. Entering Canada by van this time, was just as exciting for us, and we were pumped for our travels though Canada to Alaska.

Our roadtrip through the Canadian Rockies went by way too fast. Although we stopped at many places from Canmore through Jasper including on the legendary Icefields Parkway (Jen cried here, too) - we jotted this area as somewhere we needed to come back and spend an extended amount of time here. We are tentatively hoping to spend some time in early Fall on our way south - so if you have any recommendations, reply to this email or DM us on Instagram with your suggestions!

This roadtrip was just the first part of a much longer drive from Dawson Creek, BC to Alaska! We planned and fully intended to take the Alaska Highway (Alcan) all the way up, but when we arrived to Mile 0 - we found out the road was closed… We were closely tracking a Wildfire about 4 hours into the Alcan, just past Fort Nelson - but the day before (during our time at the International Chainsaw Competition in Chetwynd) we learned of a new fire growing rapidly, in between the first two stops on the Alcan. After lots of back and forth and with feedback from the visitors center, we decided to do what we do best… pivot - to the only other land route to Alaska, the Stewart-Cassiar Highway.

The Stewart-Cassiar added about 10 hours of driving onto our already long route, but since we can just take the Alcan on the way back we felt it was an easy decision to make. The first two days of the re-route was just getting to the beginning of the highway at Kitwanga Junction. From here this scenic drive was incredible. We saw tons of wildlife - Moose, Bear, and Foxes - although our favorite night was when we slept next to a glacier! We are currently working on editing this video and can’t wait to share it next Sunday.

Crossing the border into Alaska felt as exciting as if we had made it to another country… Many have asked us why we decided to head to Alaska, in our first 6 months after moving into the van. Why not take it slow, and learn about life on the road, exploring a region of the lower 48? It’s the same reason why we left our corporate jobs in Atlanta and booked a one way flight to South America - and the same reason we bought a boat with no experience and attempted the Great Loop - we believe in front-loading life. Whenever the choice is, shoot for your dreams now, or wait and do them later, we’ve consistently gone for it. Don’t take this to mean theres never a trade-off or opportunity cost to these decisions - we simply know that life will get in the way if we don’t carve time now. If there’s something you’re dreaming about, and you can do it now - even though you may not be as prepared or have everything perfectly planned - just go for it. You won’t regret it.

Our first stop in Alaska was the 119th annual Midnight Sun Baseball Game in Fairbanks, Alaska - the Anchorage Glacier Pilots vs the Fairbanks Goldpanners (first pitch was at 10pm!). We also met up with two other couples that we’d been chatting with for years since we ALL lived on boats. Alex and Jackie from where.is.ajax and Kate and DJ from venture wild. We had been super close in proximity when we all lived on boats, but our cruising plans and schedules never aligned. All it took was for us to all head to Alaska - literally the farthest state from where we all initially connected - and a landlocked city for us all to meet up!

After our time celebrating the solstice in Fairbanks where the sun doesn’t set, we headed south through some more wildfires to Denali National Park. Only 30% of the visitors to Denali National Park see Denali and when we explored the park, we joined the exclusive club! We hiked all throughout the park, saw lot’s of wildlife and just enjoyed the time exploring our 13th National Park. We enjoyed going on a DISCO hike (short for Discovery hike) with a park ranger to explore off trail and went bushwhacking for our first time. For the 4th of July we grilled out with Jackie and Alex, who were staying at Savage River before heading down to Anchorage - where we are now!

This Month.

Next up, we’re kicking off a 3 week road trip through the Kenai Peninsula. Many of our friends have told us we haven’t seen anything in Alaska until we drive through this region, so we’re beyond excited. On this trip we’ll hit our 14th National Park! If you have any recommendations, we’d love to hear them. Homer and Seward are on our list!

What’s next for Scho & Jo

Just like we’ve traveled many miles since our last Sunday Summary - Scho & Jo is evolving too! As you know, Scho & Jo is our full-time business so we’re constantly experimenting and working to make S&J profitable and living up to our needs and expectations. Here’s what’s new / next:

• As you may have noticed, we skipped a YouTube video this week. We’re experimenting with a bi-weekly cadence for the summer.

• We released a new product on our store! We are now going to share prints from some of our favorite travels so far, only available for for a short period of time. First up is a Great Blue Heron from our time in Everglades National Park, on a 10x8 frame - we have all the details including when and how we took the photo in our shop. If you have a location special to you, let us know and we’ll look at selecting it in future months.

• We’re posting daily series of our Alcan journey on our Instagram, so if you’re interested in what life looks like on this epic drive, check it out!

• As it’s been a while since we posted our last Sunday Summary, we’ll attempt to keep up monthly for now, so expect our next edition in early August!

Videos.

Incase you missed it, here are all the vlogs we’ve released since our last Sunday Summary:

Blogs.

Here are all the blogs we’ve released since our last Sunday Summary:

From the Eyes of Ollie.

I’m a nine and a half year old dog, but I have the enthusiasm of a younger dog. So when my parents ask me if I want to go on a hike, I always respond with yes! Some times I can’t keep up with them - after 8 miles, my little legs are tired. My parents put me in their backpack and carry me which I really like because I get a great view and still get to hang out with them!

Gratitudes.

When we left boat life and ventured into van life, a few of our goals were to be more active, have more time with friends and family, and have time for the things we enjoy. These past couple months have been a testament to that. From getting to spend time with friends enjoying campfires, roasting s’mores, seeing one of my (Jen) favorite artists from Australia play live in Colorado, seeing Elliot’s sister Nicole, and hiking countless miles, driving up to Alaska, these past months have been what our van life dreams were made of. When we first left on the road, hiking was tough, and even tough it’s still tough, we feel more equipped and more physically capable to do longer and more challenging hikes. It’s a small win that we’re proud of.

Peace and love,

Jen + Elliot

 P.S.

If you are new to our Sunday Summary, you can take a look at previous issues here.