July 20 Day 26

Today was another driving day, and once again, it was almost totally through the forest. Nothing but trees as far as the eye can see, and sometimes we had views that went on for miles. Gas stations are few and far between. But, it was on the Alaska Highway, so we’re happy. First order of business this morning was to go to the center of town and take some photos of the “Mile 0” post for the Alaska Highway, then we headed up the road.

Tonight we’re in Ft. Nelson, BC. We may make it into Yukon tomorrow, but that will depend on how long we dally at the Liard Hot Springs tomorrow. Got to soak off all the cares and worries I’ve suffered the past couple of weeks!

July 21 Day 27

We started out today by getting the oil changed in the truck, as it was overdue and you don’t want anything happening to your vehicle on the Alaska Highway. That ran me about $65 US. Went down the road and got gas. That was around $3 US a gallon, or about $50 for a half tank. Ouch!

I also found out that when you pass a sign that says “Loose gravel, slow down”, they really mean it. After barely missing a couple of potholes that could have swallowed the campa, I slow down now.

Today’s been a much more interesting day all around than the past couple. We’ve been traveling through the Rockies again, and the scenery has been wonderful. Mountains, open vistas, glacier fed rivers and wildlife. We’ve seen caribou, stone sheep (indigenous to northern BC and Yukon—they look like goats), buffalo, and black bear.

We stopped at Laird Hot Springs and soaked for a bit. It was the hottest water I’ve ever been in, and neither of us could take more than 20 minutes or so of it.

Back on the road, we headed for theYukon Territory, which is where we are tonight, in a town called Watson Lake. Got to the campsite late, around 7, but seeing how the sun is still up till after 10 we had plenty of time to set up and cook supper.

We’re both having a bit of difficulty dealing with the end of our odyssey. Tomorrow we’ll be in Whitehorse, and the next night in Beaver Creek, which is about 20 miles from the Alaska border. Thursday should find us most of the way down the Glenn Highway, and we’ll pull into Anchorage on Friday. ~Sigh~

July 22 Day 28

Tonight we’re in a motel at Whitehorse, YT. We decided to stay in a motel tonight to get internet access one last time before re-entering the US (more on that later). Our first motel choice was full so we took the last room available in the second choice motel. We were unable to make reservations ahead of time as our cell phone had no service for the past day and a half…no cell towers.

After crossing the continent over the last month, I’ve found out that there are several classes of motel rooms. There’s the executive suites, then the premium rooms, the regular rooms, then the economy rooms. And then there are the rooms for the people traveling with dogs. Our last one was in the basement of the motel. No AC, window about head level. Tonight’s is tiny, minimal furniture, no vanity (or even shelf) in the bathroom. We’ve definitely been awarded third-class status.

After checking into this fine room, I found that TDS, my internet server, is still down, and has been since Sunday night. As I have no other way of connecting to the internet and updating the web page, I called Ralph, who wasn’t able to help me out of the situation, but was able to put an explanation on the web page for me.

We did a walk of downtown Whitehorse this evening, which was enjoyable. Plenty of stores and tourist traps. Tomorrow we’re going to try to get over the Alaska border and most of the way to Tok so that we can get into Anchorage on Thursday evening. We have an appointment to view a house for rent on Friday morning.

July 23 Day 29

A momentous day! It started by making my truck an official Alaska truck…I caught a rock and cracked my windshield on the Alaska Highway just a few miles out of Whitehorse.

We drove a long day today, as we want to put some miles on and get to Anchorage tomorrow. We went past the St. Elias Mountains in the low clouds and occasional rain, but managed to catch glimpses of the peaks through the clouds. We then traveled around Kluane Lake and Mountains. Both were magnificent and many photos were taken.

We also hit a lot of construction on the Highway today. Canada is redoing a fair portion of the Highway to the Alaska border. The truck and campa look like they’ve been through a mud run, and we got held up for a little while, waiting for the pilot trucks to come guide us through the construction.

Around 4 PM, we finally made the Alaska border, and tonight I will spend my first night as an Alaska resident. We cleared customs around 5, turned our watches back an hour to Alaska time, and looked for a last campsite before we head into Anchorage tomorrow, 330 miles away.

We found one at Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge, about 20 miles from the border. It’s a beautiful site in the woods, on the shores of a lake. Only 8 sites, no fees, no rangers, just pick a site and settle in. The entire Alaska Mountain Range is spread out before us on the other side of the lake. We’re right on the water, very secluded and enjoying it. Probably the best campsite we’ve had the whole trip! I brought the Coleman lantern with us, and we’ve never used it. Tonight’s sunset will probably be sometime around midnight, so we won’t need it tonight, either.

Neither one of us are ready to end our odyssey. I’ve getting very used to traveling and seeing the country, and Cecelia says she has more blank pages in her journal (the “my account can’t be overdrawn, I still have checks left” mentality). Unfortunately, reality is going to come crashing down whether or not we wish it to, and tomorrow we’ll hit Eagle River, pick up my mail from the last 5 weeks, and meet with the realtor to view a house for rent on Friday. What a long, beautiful trip it’s been.

Some of the animals we’ve met the past couple of days…

Caribou
		Stone Sheep
				Stone sheep lamb
			Black bear
	Buffalo