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Published: September 3rd 2009
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Alaskan Fireweed
The roadsides in Alaska are covered with Fireweed. It is the first plant to grow after a forest fire and it feeds the animals and gives them good nutrition until the forest returns. There are over 80 forest fires burning in Alaska right now. Well, the time has come to leave Alaska and head back to the lower 48 states.
It has been one of the most memorable vacations we have taken. There is a saying by the residents here that when the fireweed "tops out" it is time to head south as it is a sign that the long cold winter is coming.
Leaving the Anchorage area one must drive a full days drive to Tok, Alaska, overnight, clear Canadian customs when entering the Yukon, then drive a full days drive to Watson Lake, overnight, then drive a full days drive to Skagway, Alaska, then clear U. S. customs there. When leaving Skagway heading south, one must clear Canadian customs again to enter Canada once again.
They tore our coach apart, removing everything from inside the cabinets, under the bed, the basement bins, everything including our cash on hand, and searching our safe! I am certain that they have a quota of coaches that they must search, but in the rain ??? for Mr. and Mrs. Grandparents America? We certainly don't look like criminals do we? I mean really, this is overkill and hassling. They made us leave the coach, go into the customs area and would not allow us back in the coach until they were finished searching. I question that we should be forced to leave our coach and leave them (and sometimes customs dogs too) on our coach alone to possibly help themselves to whatever they choose. We have traveled the world over and never have we been treated so poorly. And what did they find you asked? Absolutely NOTHING ! This seems to be a misuse of power on the part of the customs agents. We have been up here for 4 months, in and out of Canada several times with passports. You would think that they would pull up our passport on their computer and have us figured out by now. It appears that time would be better spent going after the dangerous individuals and capturing some of the people in the photos on the wall of the customs office. They are the same photos you would find on the wall of the post office. When criminals go in and out of Canada, they also must clear customs. One customs agent asked us if he could have a gift that we bought for our granddaughter. He wanted to give it to his daughter. We told him no. Enough said!
Many have asked us about the condition of the roads. The Alaskan Hiway road from Tok to Whitehorse was terrible. It was full of frost heaves, potholes and some dirt roads with gravel to put out the only remaining headlights left on your vehicles. Not to mention the windshield being cracked with flying rocks from the gravel. Leaving Skagway was worse when entering the Cassair hiway. It was two 50 mile sections of heaving dirt roads full of potholes and washboard sections that would shake the quills off a porcupine! It is difficult to make good time travelling when one must cruise around 15MPH due to the poor road conditions. The roads in Alaska were pretty decent, all paved except for a few. The main highways north through Canada regardless of which way you go, were terrible. If we did it again, we would take the Cassiar Hiway up and back. Only the northern 100 miles or so were bad. Actually, we would fly in, rent a car or RV and go that route. The rest of the hiway is in good shape. One man told us of a woman bringing in her motorhome that the axel had been pulled off of driving on the bumpy roads. It was on a flatbed truck coming in for repairs. The tow bar and vehicle were destroyed. We do keep in mind that it is cold up here in the winter and some places have 30 feet of snow with 15 - 20 feet of permafrost so the season for repairing roads is a short one. There always seems to be construction going on so efforts are being made to repair the problem areas. It certainly slows down traffic and increases driving time and fuel costs for the tourists. I will say one great thing about Canada. It is beautiful ! Breathtaking ! The provincial campgrounds are also located in beautiful locations for the most part. Most of them are paved and located in scenic areas, on lake fronts, etc. Oh we can't wait for the roads of the lower 48 ! And also the wonderful campgrounds!
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