Blogs from Tok, Alaska, United States, North America - page 5

Late start today as Kerry had to get his spare tire for the trailer replaced. He had to go to every tire place and gas station in town to find someone who could sell him the right tire. While Kerry searched for a new tire, Gena went into a small gift shop with a sod covered roof. The clerk told her that they had to mow it twice each week. Since we got a late start, we decided to drive to Glennallen and get a camp site for two nights. We went down to Wrangell/St Elias National Park Visitors Center in Copper Center. Really nice center! Great displays and exhibits. Gena & I watched the 22 min video on the park. It is a spectacular video with great sound - - very well done! We got ... read more

Not far out of Haines Junction on the Alaska Highway, an immature bald eagle swooped across the road in front of our car, grabbed something out of the weeds on the side of the road, and flew off. I knew right then this was going to be a day for spotting wildlife. Around Kluane Lake, a beautiful lake that goes on for miles, Gena spotted a bear. It was a grizzly just strolling down the path. It came up the side road, crossed in front of our car (which was stopped off the side of the road,) then turned down the highway and ambled past us. It stopped next to us, stood up on its hind legs, looked around, then went on down the road. What a thrill! A short while later, Bob spotted a coyote ... read more

Deadhorse is basically a giant oil terminal. Lots of portacabin buildings, a range of enormous trucks, diggers etc, pipelines everywhere and men in rigger boots and hard hats. As Edwin said it was just like being back at Port Clarence. However, being as far north as you can get by road this was the true starting point of the journey, from here its 20,000 miles south. To celebrate the start of the journey we went for a skinny dip in the Arctic Ocean at Prudhoe Bay. There isn't really much else to do in Deadhorse the only 'attractions' are the hardware store and the post office. There isn't even a bar as its a dry town - although we might have snuck in a beer to toast the start of the journey. The only way out ... read more

Feels like summer, as we woke up to blue skies and the sun shining brightly. I was really daring and decided to wear Capri pants today for the second time in a month. Dave actually took off his flannel shirt. We must be Alaskasized because we were really warm with the temperature at 50 degrees as we started our morning. Good-bye Glennallen. Traveling out on the Tok-cutoff, we had excellent views of the Wrangell Mountains to our south in the morning and then the Mentasta Mountains to our south in the afternoon and the Alaska Range to our north. Half way to Tok, we stopped at Midway Service, where Dave went in for a coffee to go and I tried getting online for their free wi-fi. After 30 minutes and not being able to get online, ... read more

I WENT BACK TO ADD A FEW FACTS, BUT COULD NOT ALL ANYTHING. WE WERE OUTSIDE AND IT JUST SNOWED/SLEETED. BIG CHUNKS OF SNOW OT SOMETHING WAS FALLING FROM THE SKY!!!! I TRIED TO PUT PICTURES ON BUT COULD NOT. I THINK MY AIR CARD IS SO SLOW THAT IT TAKES TOO LONG. WILL PUT SOME ON AT A LATER TIME. TAKE CARE LOVE TO ALL, DWIGHT & BRENDA... read more