We awoke early, as was becoming the custom. Chairs in, bed in, tent in, etc. You know the pattern by now. We never made it to the hot springs, either in the evening or in the morning. We just got in the car after a quick walk with the dogs and headed out to the main road.
Left or right? Back to Whitehorse and wait until Monday for my card or head Northeast to Alaska. We were so close, at least when one is driving thousands of miles. We decided to head to Alaska with a broken ID and take our chances. The worst that could happen is we would make a u-turn and wait until Monday.
A little more than a hundred miles down the road, after crossing a bridge and taking a wide bend, we saw Kluane Lake. It was huge. I saw a pull off and took it. It was another opportunity for a swim for the dogs.
The dogs were getting tired, no longer dropping the ball at our feet or barking/whining saying, "More! More! More!" It was time to get back in the car and forge ahead. Beaver Creek was less than 100 miles away and that's the last town in the Yukon. Next stop, Alaska!
But first, the border and Homeland Security.
We saw signs for the impending border. I grabbed the blue bag with all papers inside. I handed it to Tom and he found the proper documents for him and the dogs. I retrieved my indian card from my wallet and hoped for the best.
The only problem was that the border patrols were more than 20 miles apart. I was in the US before I crossed the inspection. I was freaking just a bit. What if the US did not take the card? What if they returned me to Canada. What if they did not accept me? I'd be stuck in this 20 mile no mans land for the weekend, living off berries and fending off bears.
I had recently heard that that the US Border Patrol had set up microphones near the borders, hoping to listen in on any problems that may arise. I told Tom to not say a word about my ID, afraid that they were listening.
We reached the kiosk and I handed over the paperwork. Usual questions about place of birth, work, home, etc. He punched in some numbers into his computer, handed back our paperwork and off we went.
No problem. The second border crossing complete.
We went off towards Tok, Alaska.
If you go to Alaska, in a car, you must go through Tok. Not because it is wonderful, but it is the only way to get anywhere in Alaska.
We arrived in Tok in less than an hour. We stopped at the Visitor's Center and asked a few questions to the clerk behind the counter. She wasn't too helpful, but confirmed that AT&T would work fine in Alaska. We also picked up some information about our next stop for the night, Delta Junction, the Official End of the Alaska Highway.
It was still over 200 miles away, so another few chapters of Carol Channing, a few more loose gravel areas and lots of new sights.
We stopped at one rest stop along a small lake in the Shakwak Trench, one of the most important bird migration corridors into central Yukon and Alaska. It had a few signs located on a small pier telling us about the local flora and fauna. There was a lovely family of ducks that were swimming by the pier. They spent time with their bills in the water and their butts in the air.
There was also patches of fireweed along the shore and in the parking area. It was a flower that we would come to see everyday, along the road, in valleys, just everywhere. It was a brilliant color which was a sharp contrast to the ever cloudy skies.
Still more miles, dogs sleeping and Carol.
Then, our first Moose. He was pretty neat. Just standing along the side of the road. I had learned that one should fear a moose as much as one should fear a bear. Tom stopped the car, as he was driving, and I got out. The moose just stared at me. The stare lasted longer than I would have liked and I hopped back in the car. I did not want this animal charging after me, so Click, Click, Bye!
Needless to say, we arrived into Delta Junction while it was still light out. It was just a few minutes past eight and I had found a campground that seemed like it would fit our needs for the night. The only drawback was that it was a Good Sam Park.
I had a bad experience a few years back at a Good Sam Park and ever since I have shied away from them. I rang the bell for Smith's Green Acres RV Park and the man's first question was, "What kind of dog is that?"
"I have two. One lab mix and a terrier mix."
"We have restrictions here."
OK. So here we go again with Good Sam's. He did have a space for us, though. He also turned out to be a decent fellow with a very clean facility. He new his property, the people staying here and there. Told us about another dog in the area and to watch out for the moose that came through during certain times of the day/night.
We unpacked the tent and was pleasantly surprised when his worker came by offering wood or finding out if we needed anything else. Maybe the Good Sam's aren't too bad.
Once the campsite was set, we headed back into town to check out the Visitor's Center as well as the roadside attractions of huge mosquitos and the sign telling us we had reached the end of the Alaska Highway.
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| Giant Mosquitos |
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| End of the Alaskan Highway |
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| Alaskan Pipeline Slice |
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| Tommy Giving Blood |
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| David Getting Attacked |
We drove around town, checking out a fair that they had going on. I saw the sign below and had to take a picture. Looking at it now, I should have gone for the one headed North, but oh well.
We headed back to our campsite and were surprised to see the Milepost RV in the campground. As I stated earlier, the Milepost is the must have book while driving to Alaska. We gave a big "Howdy!" to the woman in the RV and also a "Thank You!"
It was a long and stressful day. We both had an adult beverage while we played some cribbage. The dogs knew the routine and found themselves a nice spot on the air bed and napped. I have no idea when we went to bed, as the light was still coming through the tent. We were both tired and eventually slept through the night?!?
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