soytnly

I like statistics, so let's start with these: Number of days traveling: 28 Number of days that I had the top down on the Miata: 28 (even the three mostly-rainy days on my trip had periods when I was able to put the top down) Miles driven: 6260 (10,075 kilometers) Total trip miles including ferry travel: 6740 (10,847 kilometers) Total hours driving: about 145 (based on average speed of 45 MPH) Amount of gas used on trip: about 250 gallons (946 liters) Number of times I stopped for gas: about 45 (metric units = 45) Number of times I stopped at a rest area (or peed in the bushes): probably 100+ Number of cell phones lost at a rest area: 1 Number of Lipton Diet Green Tea bottles consumed: 60 Coldest temperature on trip: 4 below ... read more

The morning clouds disappeared quickly and the rest of the day was perfectly sunny with temps in the mid 70’s; another great Miata day! (hit 6000 miles on the Miata today!) I crossed the border back into Washington around noon with no problems. In six border crossings on this trip I’ve observed that there is not a standard set of questions that they ask; they always seem to be “winging it”. Sometimes they ask if I’m carrying any alcohol, tobacco or firearms (but he didn’t ask today). Today’s questioning from the customs agent went something like this: Agent: Where do you live? (Ridgefield, WA) Agent: Where have you been traveling? (Canada and Alaska) Agent: You drove “this” to Alaska and back? (yes) Agent: And drove on their roads? (yes) Agent: How long have you been traveling? ... read more

First of all, I'd like to thank those of you who have left comments on this blog or sent me emails. Your comments have provided a great personal connection for me and the feeling that my experience is being shared and enjoyed by others. I've averaged 25-30 "views" per day of my blog, so I'm delighted to be able to share this with all of you! There are features on this TravelBlog web site that I haven't even discovered yet, but I did just learn where to go to see all of the comments that have been posted. If you "cut-and-paste" the following address into your browser, you should be able to see all of the comments for my blog: http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/soytnly/Comments/page-1.html The comments make more sense if they're read from bottom-to-top. As I was driving today, ... read more

CORRECTION TO YESTERDAY’S BLOG: I received a kind comment on the blog from a person who clearly knows his “fauna” better than I. The comment informs me that the five “moose” I described (and took a photo of) are actually “elk”. I have every reason to believe that he’s right because, when it comes to members of the “venison” family (and many other families), I don’t know what I’m talking about. Thank you for the clarification! It rained last night but had stopped by morning, so I hit the road with the top down (as usual). It was cool and cloudy all day so the top stayed down, but late in the afternoon things got interesting (more later). Before leaving Watson Lake I had to visit their Sign Post Forest. According to the official record: “The ... read more

Today was my last day in Alaska and I think that the state was giving me a friendly warning this morning that it was time to leave. The temperature (according to my trusty digital thermometer in the Miata) was 35 degrees Fahrenheit (or, for you Canadians, that's 1.7 degrees Celsius!). Cold! However, the sun was shining and the skies were blue and I immediately put the top down on the Miata, bundled up and hit the road. It was nothing but blue skies and sun for the entire day (and it warmed up to 60 F). Everywhere I go, people are telling me how exceptionally nice the weather has been this September (and today may have been the best weather day of the entire trip!). Before leaving Delta Junction I drove three miles in the wrong ... read more