Valdez seemed to have a way of bringing interesting travelers into our lives.

That’s where we met Emilie and François from Switzerland, who were traveling with their two teenage children in one of the more unusual adventure vehicles we had seen: a vintage red-and-white Swiss ambulance truck.

As if the ambulance itself wasn’t cool enough, they had two James Baroud rooftop tents mounted above for the kids to sleep in. It was creative, practical and definitely hard to miss.

François generously shared his knowledge of Alaska with us, recommending roads to drive and places we should make time to visit.

But he also provided another very important service during our time together: bear notifications. Whenever François spotted bears nearby, he would come over and make sure we knew.

One sighting was particularly special — a mother bear and her two cubs making their way across the water in search of salmon.

Emilie and François, thank you for the travel advice, the conversations and for making sure we didn’t miss some of Alaska’s incredible wildlife.