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We made it to Alaska!!! I'm delighted to report that I don't have any horror stories about breaking down, blowing out a tire, or getting lost. We thoroughly enjoyed the adventure. The Alaskan Highway starts at Dawson Creek, BC and ends at Delta Junction, AK. which is 1390 miles. We traveled 1279 miles to Tok, AK because we decided to go south to Anchorage instead of north to Fairbanks. The roads were clear and mostly good . As we traveled along we followed the Milepost 2011 book which gave us mile by mile facts about the cities that we were passing through and background information about where the cities' names came from, population, elevation, and services available. Every time I wondered about something we passed I looked in the book and usually got my answer. I was able to inform Dan of many neat trivia points about the countryside.
Dawson Creek, BC is unique because it begins the Alaskan Highway. We took a walk around town where murals were painted on many buildings. Unfortunately the Visitor Center was not open because of flood damage that was being repaired. When we took pictures at the mile 0 post there was no one around to ask to take a picture of both of us together.
We enjoyed another sunny day as we traveled along viewing the gorgeous scenery. After passing through many small towns we stopped at Fort Nelson, BC. (Historic Mile 300) The campground where we stayed was beside the Fort Nelson Museum which also was not opened. We walked around the outside where there were many artifacts of interest. We were just a little too early. From what we could gather most places along the way don't open until middle May. At least we found campgrounds open so we could be pampered with electricity for our electric blanket and computer connection!
The trip between Fort Nelson, BC and Watson Lake, YK was unbelievably breathtaking. There were miles and miles of wilderness. Words and pictures can't describe the spectacular views of the Canadian Rockies. We ascended, descended, and curved around the mountains. During this section we had our first moose and bison sightings. What a delight! There were warning signs for stone sheep but we did not see any. Later in the journey we met a couple who drove that part of the highway two years ago and had to stop for several nights because of snow storms. We are thankful that the roads were dry.
The city of Watson Lake, the Gateway to the Yukon, is famous for its Sign Post Forest. It began when an Army soldier who worked on the Alaskan Highway in 1942 left a sign with his name. As the years went by others left license plates, personalized signs, and even a Steeler sign. There are more than 70,000 signs there now. We spent quite a bit of time walking through and marveling at the ingenuity of the signs. It was an amazing sight to see. Another amazing sight was the price of milk at the local grocery store - $6.99 a gallon. Talk about sticker shock!
The drive between Watson Lake, YT and Whitehorse, YT was full of hills and curves and beautiful scenery. The hymn "How Great Thou Art" kept going through my mind like it did last summer when were visiting the National Parks. One breathtaking sight was crossing the Alaskan Highway's longest bridge.
As you see the river was still frozen. Whitehorse, which is the capital of Yukon , has a population of over 26,000 and the whole Yukon has only 35,000 people. The road to the city goes down two miles to the Yukon River. I wouldn't want to drive it in the snow! After stopping at the visitor center we took a walk along the river where they have a three mile walkway. Part of the river was flowing, and there were ice chunks all around.
Although the stretch of highway between Whitehorse and the US border had magnificent scenery, the road deteriorated. The frost heaves that we heard about appeared in abundance. Orange flags were placed as warnings to slow down. At some areas it was not as bad as Pennsylvania roads, but there were a few spots where it was very rough. Dan covered the Blazer during this time, and we had no damage to it. There was not much traffic so we didn't have the problem of stones being thrown at us. They have a research team trying to resolve the problem and have several places where they are experimenting on solutions.
We drove past the Kluane National Park Ice Field Ranges which includes Mt. Logan, Canada's highest peak at 19,545 ft. Mt. McKinley where we will work is 20,320 ft which is USA's highest peak. There were so many white mountains around that it was somewhat overwhelming.
And then at last we traveled back across from Canada to the United States. At the border besides asking to see our passports the man asked if we had any fruit. We told him we had apples and bananas. He asked to see an apple. He looked at it and smiled and told us to have a safe trip. The first thing I did was turn on the cell phone, but we were too far away from any city get a signal. I had to wait until we arrived at Tok, Ak to make a call. Fortunately Verizon has service all through Alaska. After staying overnight at Tok we left the Alaskan Highway and proceeded down the Glenn Highway toward Achorage. Once again we went up the hills, down the hills, and around the curves. The road was decent but not great in some sections. We passed very close to the Matanuska Glacier which was another beautiful sight.
We chose Wasilla, AK as our stopping point because it is on the highway only 83 miles from Mt. McKinley Princess Lodge. We gave ourselves plenty of time for travel in case we experienced problems or bad roads. Since neither happened we have a bonus of time to clean up the RV and Blazer, do some sightseeing in the Anchorage area, and relax before we start our jobs. We will drive up on Sunday to get set up and start training on Monday, May 9.
As far as the gas prices go we developed an "it is what it is" attitude. We have to accept the things that we cannot change. The price in Canada was outrageous along with the exchange rate. Here in Wasilla it is between $4.12 and $4.19. The price of food is more expensive here also from what we have seen. We're glad that the lodge has the meal plan so we won't need to shop or cook.
Misc. info: We have traveled 5327 miles so far with 83 to go. The temperatures are in the 50's during the day and 30's at night. We have over 16 hours of daylight at this point. Last night at 10:30 it was still light out!
We will write again from Mt McKinley.
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