Traveling with the Stanfords 2025

When we woke up Friday we had lots of plans. We'd been taking it fairly easy Wednesday and Thursday, knowing Friday through Sunday would be very late nights. We started getting ready to visit the Foam villege for the foaming/cleaning event and were excited for the experience - and not needing to put up our own shower and evaporation pond was a plus. Our friend Rob had mentioned the previous day to keep an eye on the weather; since he was out at the airport they had access to regular forecasts. As we prepared to ride our bikes out we felt a few spots of rain, normally something to be ignored. However Sara turned on the radio and tu ned into to hear what Burning Man Information Radio (BMIR) was broadcasting. Good thing we did, the advice was a weather event is coming, with up to .8 inch of rain and high winds - shelter in place, conserve water and food and to take care of your neighbours.  Burning Man is held in the Nevada desert on a dried lake bed. Normally it is very dus...

This was our fourth time to attend Burning Man and as usual it was epic and extraordinary. To build a temporary city in the middle of the Black Rock desert in Nevada and to have over 70,000 people come from around the world and stay for a week is no easy task. It is hard to explain to people exactly what Burning Man is, and there are many incorrect perceptions typically based on sensationalized themes of drug fueled crazy partying and rich tech attendees. This year a weather event caused Burning Man to hit the global news with some really outlandish reporting - more on that later!  In reality Burning Man is a global nonprofit supported by a network of humans inspired by the 10 Principles , and united in the pursuit of a more creative and connected life. The global ecosystem of artists, makers, and community organizers co-create art, events, and local initiatives around the world. Most recognizably, tens of thousands of Burners gather annually to build Black Rock...

Thursday March 23rd was the start of three nights of exploring for lights on our own. We set off with plenty of warm clothes, a flask of hot tea and the phone number of a towing company just in case we got stranded. We started with a drive on the local ice road to the small community of Dettah just 6.5 km on the frozen Great Slave lake or 23 km by road in the summer.  We stopped several times on the side and John persuaded Sara to lie down in the middle of the road for a photo which turned out really great.  The next three nights followed a similar pattern. We bundled up in multiple layers and warm boots and drove out of town and up the Ingraham trail. The road is paved for about 65 km then becomes the world's longest ice road going 600 km north to three diamond mines. The ice road has to be constructed each year and is only open for 8-9 weeks. There is a lot of traffic on both roads, as the mines try to get all their fuel and supplies shipped while the roa...

Wednesday March 22nd we had a dog sledding adventure.  We were picked up at the house and driven to the kennels where about 50 dogs are cared for and trained to pull different types of dog sleds. We chose North of 60 Adventures a family owned business. They offer different tours to share the cultural traditions and teachings they learned from their grandparents.  The young men running the sledding were a lot of fun and took great care of us. We had enjoyed the Norwegian dog sledding experience so much we decided to select the 'you drive' option again. This time John had a more comfortable sled with a few cushions, although it was still on the bumpy side. Sara was "Musher Girl" again! We had a wonderful time cruising over the frozen lakes and through the forest. Luckily the dogs were kind to the rookie musher and kept to the trail. We got some cool video from the GoPros. One fell off right at the start after a big bump, but the lead guy kindly picked up and took some ...

We e njoyed last year's Finland aurora experience so much we wanted to take another northern lights trip. John researched and found Yellowknife, Canada in the Northwest Territories is a prime location with visible lights over 240 nights a year. Yellowknife has crystal-clear skies, ultra-low humidity, and is in a perfect location beneath  the "Auroral oval", a band of  maximal Auroral activity. Sunday March 19th we flew north almost 3,000 miles to start our adventure! We rented a small house which was perfect as we were up until 3am most nights and could enjoy the peace and quiet during the mornings. Monday we started with the grocery shopping for the week and then took a quick drive to explore and enjoy the sunny day. Yellowknife is next to the huge Great Slave lake, and there are smaller lakes everywhere. All currently frozen, and many with temporary roads connecting the one main road to cabins in the back country. We drove down one of them in anticipation of our time al...