June 16, 2008 Monday, Day 14

The alarm came at 0700 hours and we were headed to the filling station for tire air and diesel (the highest price yet at $1.69 a liter) by 0745. I ran to the Napa Parts Store to purchase a K & M air filter refill kit as there is just so much dust/gravel/dirt on these roads. I got the last one at $11.20!

Our next stop was the Dawson City Ferry which is operated over the Yukon River in lieu of a bridge. The ferry is free and runs 24/7. We were at the head of a growing line of RV’'s and were soon in place on the tiny ferry and

heading across the swift flowing river for about a 10 minute ride. We rolled off the ferry and began our steep assent to the Top of the World Hwy.

The Top of the World Hwy is closed in winter and is mostly gravel and oil. It was all paved at one time but the Canadians found it too expensive to maintain for the light traffic and the brutal winter destruction. We stopped near the top and pulled out a propane grill and had breakfast! Breathtaking views and wonderful food! The small black flies were swarming however and vying for our breakfast! The pooches also enjoyed the respite and their share of the blueberry pancakes!

As we continued our steep, windy, descent’s and assent’s we also saw a porcupine that had just crossed the road. On several occasions we saw Canadian road crews consisting of a large motorized shovel contraption and an oiler, smoothing out the gravel/dirt and sealing the roads.

We crossed the border from Canada to the USA (and changed time zones) at about 1145 or 1045 for the new time zone. The border crossing was named Poker Creek, Alaska, population 2. We sailed through with barely time for a photo op and immediately the road changed . . . for the worse. Now instead of oiled compressed gravel, we had dirt, with boulders protruding, and dust, and holes, and some upheavals/protrusions. We were down to the 20 to 25 miles per hour range. Still lots of curves and assents and descents . . . but lots of airstrips made of grass or the hard packed dirt that we were driving on.

Ten miles into Alaska we stopped at Boundary for some pictures and to stretch our legs. The owner was sporting a shiner and mentioned that he lived in Boundary, population 8, for 10 months of the year . . . then snowmobiled out to Tok and headed for the southern regions and warmth in January and February. Think he mentioned Montana??? Winter caribou herds he mentioned run about 40 thousand in number!

Our next stop a couple of hours later was Chicken, Alaska. The story goes that the miners wanted to call it Ptargmin but no one could spell it, so they settled for Chicken. A cute but small community of about 40, the gift shop and display items are great. We stopped for a cup of chicken soup and piece of pie before heading down the road to Tok. Our sunny but cloudy day has been interspersed this mid-afternoon with small rain squalls.

The remaining miles this afternoon on the Top of the World Highway are slow; dirt with boulders/rock laden; heaving in some places and very steep up and down. It is not fun driving . . . and our Vehicles are filthy. We finally left the Top of the World Highway and met up with the Alaska Highway just outside of Tok, Alaska. Ahhh, pavement! AND cell service, yahoo! A rambling bunch of deserted log buildings anchored the junction of the two highways with no clue as to what they might have been.

We filled up with diesel at $5.12 a gallon (a bargain compared to Spokane prices) and found our RV site at Tok RV by 1630 hours. We parked next to the Zortman’s in a pull through, set up and broke out the cell phones to spend the next few hours checking in! Cocktails and planning were completed by Stephen and Bob. We decided to part company for a couple of days so we could head to Fairbanks and see old military friends, Ricky & Betty Wright. We’ll catch up with the Zortmans later.

Dinner was BLT’s and refrigerator lefties. We walked with the pups to have an ice cream cone and listen for a few minutes to the ‘live’ entertainment provided by the RV Park. The songs of the old west were being sung by a Cowboy and his 2 cohorts. Then off to the showers which were clean, huge and nice! No end of hot water and hair dryers were provided. Bed didn’t come early enough for Sharon at 2130ish.

Weather today was sunny, peaked in the mid 70’s with a breeze and some cloud cover. Scattered squalls in the late afternoon. Distance traveled today 223 miles.

Sidebars:

1. A Loonie is copper one dollar coin. These coins are necessary if you want to use a shopping cart at a grocery store. When you return the cart however you receive your Loonie back.
2. At Provincial Parks in Canada, not only is the firewood generally free but they have a small area at each campsite about 18 inches in diameter filled with rocks and contained in a metal housing. The purpose of this is to pour your wash/soapy water into the housing so o it’s contained in one location, and is fairly wild animal free. Neat!
3. Canadian Tire is a large store that began business as a tire supplier. Quickly it became sort of a general store and is now more like a hardware store complete with a small food section. They are wonderful finds in towns large enough to sport one!
4. Remnants’ of forest fires dotted the area and in some cases, particularly the last day in this part of the log, seem to cover thousands of acres. The regrowth is slow due to the harsh and long winters so much of the growing season is in the summer when the days are long with rarely any nightfall.
5. Land of the Midnight Sun. As we head towards the Summer Solstice on June 21^st we have found that the ‘twilight time’ is so limited that in some cases it seems non-existent. The pups (as do we) wonder if the sun will EVER set!
6. Distance from the Artic Circle at Dawson City, Yukon territories was 160 miles! We are REALLY North at that point.