On Sunday, Steve and I didn't get up until after 8am, which was much later than we planned on waking. A glance out the window revealed pouring rain, overcast skies, and low hanging clouds and mist. A glance at the outside thermometer showed that it was a chilly 36F.

Our plan would have us driving from Fairbanks to Cantwell (about 150 miles), and then across the Denali Highway (135 miles - 95 of it gravel) to Paxson, and then back to Fairbanks (about 200 miles). After looking out the window, and seeing the heavy rain, we made a last minute decision to alter our route. Instead, we drove to Paxson, turned onto the Denali Highway and drove to McClaren Summit (the highest elevation on the highway - about 40 miles). We turned around at that point, and retraced our route home. We also took my car, instead of the truck - to save on gas. We drove just about 500 miles, and it took us 10 hours.

The *highlights* (or maybe not so much of a highlight - especially to my Alaska friends):

• Snow is on Donnelly Dome.
• Snow is on every single mountain top up and down the Richardson highway.
• The temperature dropped to 33F as we were driving.
• It snowed on and off, the entire time we were on the Denali Highway.
• The fall foliage is still absolutely gorgeous, but probably won't last much longer.

Yes boys and girls... winter is on its way - and its coming quickly!

The clouds were so low, that we couldn't see the range on the horizon when we got to Delta Junction. In fact, we could hardly see Donnelly Dome until we got up on it. We noticed snow dusting the top of the dome.
	Approaching Black Rapids, the clouds obliterated any views of the range across the Delta River, but the low light did make the autumn foliage glow: I had to take a photo of my car, with the autumn backdrop.
	When there was a bit of a clearing, we could see that the mountains also had a dusting a snow on them. The Rainbow Mountain area is one of my favorite stretches of highway. The clouds and mist clung to the top ---->
	<---A closer shot of Rainbow Mountains area, showing the mist and autumn colors. And even closer... I just loved the way the golden leaves contrasted so beautifully with the deep green of the spruce.
This is a panoramic photo (900 pixels) of the gravel road leading to Gulkana Glacier. Steve and I have never driven this road before, but have always wanted to. We didn't go much further than this, but will explore more when in the truck someday.
	<-- This is the Gulkana River just upriver from a salmon hatchery. You can't fish it, but it's a great rest stop. Continuing down the Richardson Highway, the rain finally eased up, and the low light made the landscape almost glow.
The next group of photos was taken on the Denali Highway
This panoramic (900 pixels) was taken on the Denali Highway on the way out. A little chilly, yes? --->
Gulkana Glacier is in the background. This was taken from the Denali Highway.		The turquoise waters of Summit Lake are stunning. You can see Gulkana Glacier in the background here too.

After sorting through all the photos I took and resizing them for my journal, I decided to make a video slideshow of highlights from the drive. I also included video footage I shot with my old Canon G2. That old camera is 4.0 megapixels and only shoots 30 seconds of video at a time, so the quality isn't very good. I thought it would be neat to show the video footage, interspersed with still shots taken from the same location where the video was recorded.

I chose the song "February Song" by Josh Groban for background music. I liked the lyrics to this song, and felt they described the farewell of summer and arrival of fall/winter well. Click on the small PLAY button to view the video in this journal, or the large PLAY button in the center to see the video at the YouTube site.

My back is feeling much better, but I'm still not up to par. If I twist a certain way, I still feel sharp pains. I went to belly dance class on Friday night, but only watched. I'm glad I went, as they are learning new dance steps.

Steve is adjusting well to his job. He's got a pretty good sleep schedule going now, which is a big help - especially on the night shift. He likes that he works alone most of the time. He's also getting used to the drive, and finds the 45 minute commute to be rather relaxing. I have a feeling that will change when the snow comes. I am thankful that there are so many employees from the Fairbanks/North Pole area traveling that route; that should help keep the roads clear. We did put brand new tires on Steve's truck, and will have mooselights installed over the next couple of weeks.

The leaves are almost totally off the trees now. The carpet of gold and yellow on the ground is pretty, but I know it's a temporary pleasure. Soon brown will take over our little corner of the world. And when that happens, I know I will find myself wishing for winter - and snow - because it will cloak the landscape with white brilliance. Remind me of these sentiments in December and January, when I'm complaining about the never ending winter.