Tuesday, June 02. Wow!!! I don't know where to start......I'm exhausted from the drive and the cleanup. Let me explain.
Good news: We got off to a good start this morning about 8:30 am with sunshine and cool weather. Bad news: Filled the tank at $1.17 per liter which translates to $3.986per US gallon in US dollars.
Good news: The ferry was running fine and on time. Bad news: The video camera wouldn't work to film our epic crossing of the Yukon River.
Good news: We made it across the river without incident. No bad news here.
Good news: The Top of the World Highway from the ferry to about 10 miles in was paved and smooth. Bad news: After that, it turned to gravel. Good news: It was well maintained and smooth. Bad news: The road was dry and dusty.
Good news: The scenery was quite spectacular with the illusion you were above everything, including distant mountains which were actually higher in altitude. Took many pictures. No bad news here.
Good news: There was little traffic either way and we could stop and take pics whenever we wanted. The road went up and down in altitude from about 1700 feet to about 3900 feet. I saw by the GPS we were nearing the Canada/US border and we climbed to an altitude of over 4300 feet. There just ahead was the US customs and ALASKA!!! We made it!
Good news: We had no problems getting back into our country. Bad news: The road didn't look very good. In fact it was brown dirt with a bit of gravel on top and rocks sticking thru the mess. We had to slow down quite a bit, since going over 20 mph would shake the motorhome violently. The dust now was so thick I could barely see the Tracker in the rear view monitor at times. Also, the road became substantially narrower, making passing vehicles, especially trucks and other motorhomes, going in the opposite direction a test of ones driving skills. After what seemed like forever, we finally saw the sign to the town of Chicken.
Good news: After stopping at the gift shop outside of Chicken, we got back on the road which shortly turned to somewhat paved sometime. Better than the dirt, but not really good either. I had lost interest in the scenery about half way from the border to Chicken and took few pictures. I just wanted to get off this road from hell. Bad news: We finally came back to the Alaska Highway, made the turn onto it toward Tok, 13 miles away. You'd probably think that would be good news...WRONG! Just past the Tok sign was a sign saying' Road Construction next 13 Miles'. Can you believe it!!!
Good news: We made it to TOK with a few short delays and then to the Sourdough Campground. The campground was really nice with treed sites. Bad news: When I went to unhook the Tracker, I opened the door to find light tan dust everywhere. Seats, floor, dash, windows were covered with it. After dinner at the campground, we spent the next two hours vacuuming and wiping down the interior and finally washing the outside. By this time, I was hot and sweaty and very tired. Came into the motorhome for the last time that night and went for a well deserved beer.
And now for the ugly: I was out of beer.
See you tomorrow.
Ron & Barb
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Awwwwww. Sorry to hear you ran out of beer. hehe What was your favorite part of the whole trip so far? I enjoy hearing the good news a little more than the bad news, but the ugly part did make me chuckle... Why is the rum always gone? <3
ReplyDeleteLove Mandy
Mandy, my favorite part of the trip is hard to say. Loved Banff and Jasper, loved Dawson City, liked the first half of the ToW Highway. Loved seeing the wild animals. There is lots of scenery along the way which doesn't always make you say WOW, but it makes the drive very pleasant. Hope that answers your question. Of course, we haven't seen much of Alaska yet, so there are probably going to be more favorites.
ReplyDeleteLove, Pap