Thur, Fri and Home!-Goodbye Canada, Hello Alaska!

---

---

Our whole trip!
Mem Da Thursday, July 12, 2007
We both slept amazingly well in the car last night, it was a little hot in the morning but not bad, we got up at 9:30AM! Went to the café to have breakfast and saw a motorcycle rider that we’d talked to back on the road a day or so ago. Chatted with him a bit, he’s headed to Fairbanks and Top of the Road highway.

We ate a good breakfast and then took off. The road is very good, some loose gravel, some construction in a few places but not bad at all. We got to see more Stone sheep on the road again; our motorcycle friend was in the same place taking photos too. Then we headed towards Liard hot springs. We thought to stop and take a dip but the bathroom was calling so we left the line. Got back on the road and saw many signs to watch for buffalo on the road. I kept saying to Elan that maybe over the next hill we’d see them; we didn’t but did have to stop for another flock of sheep on the road! More buffalo signs then finally we saw one buffalo! After taking many photos we left and then just up and over the next hill we saw a whole herd of buffalo!! Many more pictures later and full of excitement we took off.

Another fellow rider on the road is a bright yellow “Alaskan Cruiser.” It is a motorcycle trike with a trailer on the back. We’ve played leapfrog with it for a couple of days. Every now and then we see a bicycle rider. I wonder how Aaron did on the Fireweed 400 this year? How about Ed & Evelyn on the 50 mi tandem? Next stop I’ll have to look at the results. (Next stop that I can get internet that is.)

Many places on the road say to slow down; Elan would like to see one that says speed up!

I drove for a few hours then Elan again. As we crossed into the Yukon Territories, the official crossing the Mounties were out stopping everyone and asking questions. As one travels the Alcan, the highway crosses back and forth between BC and Yukon Territory six times. Watson Lake has a sign post forest with over 68,000 signs. If we include the license plates from there then we’ve seen a plate from every state except Hawaii and that is probably there too but we did not see it! The information center person said that people plan on coming to Watson Lake to put up their signs. Many of the signs were in German, she said they research and know all about the place they are traveling to before they get there! My favorite signs were the solar system ones! I hope the pictures of them are good enough to put up in my classroom.

We picked up some hotdogs and marshmallows for dinner tonight, whenever that might be. We’ve been playing leapfrog with the motorcycle rider, he is easy to recognize with his neon yellow reflective gear.

So I was just getting ready to add in here that I had seen a black bear on the side of the road but could not stop and Elan slowed down because there was another one on the side! We saw a moose last night where we camped. The wildlife is definitely grand to see on the road. I did have to slow down and swerve to avoid a small duck waddling across the road… Awhile back we were told to be cautious of the Rancheria Caribou herd in the area but we did not see them. I’m thinking that on a motorcycle the wildlife is a bit scarier. Take the bear, it wandered onto the road after we passed it by… not sure how that’d be to come upon on my motorcycle.

Lucy is telling us that if we drive from now straight we’d arrive home at 8AM tomorrow morning. This is one feature I do not like. For those of you who have seen the previews of the new Mr. Bean movie, Elan quotes, “Get me the toothpicks!” Yes, Susan, there is a new Mr. Bean movie, want to go with us? ☺

Lots of cottonwood in the air blowing about, there was a lot of bees too at the last rest stop. Elan got out to stretch his legs and promptly got back in his car again.

Do you prefer the metric or imperial system? Elan prefers mph over kmph. I wish we would stick with metric, makes math easier! So we are traveling along and Elan wanted to know how fast in mph he was going so clicked the switch to show that. Then after we passed some cars on the road he continued to speed up, after all the gauge said we were at 86 and we were used to going at 110. Oops! He forgot that 110 was kmph and 86 was in mph! Makes a big difference!

Friday, July 13, 2007
Ooooh! Friday the thirteenth! Thanks to Susan, Elan thinks he should make Whitehorse to Anchorage in one day! Lucy says we’ll arrive by 8:30PM, if, and that is a big if we can keep to the speed limit the whole way and no stops. But that is the problem there is lots of construction at Beaver Creek we’ve been told, and the road has bumps and frost heaves in it. I imagine that we’ll be sleeping in our own beds though tonight even if it is later than 8:30PM.

When you go through Canada be sure to stop at the Visitors’ Centers. They are wonderful. One can watch an audio-visual presentation or look out the window, get lots of information from the people working there; they are very helpful and pleasant to talk to. Across the street from the Haines Junction Visitors’ Center is an excellent bakery. Elan had a lox and bagel half and I had the best slice of Greek pizza! We got some blueberry scones for the road later on when Elan will not want to stop… ☺

We are promised more bear on the road, in the muffin bakery there was a warning sign about black and grizzly bears and how to tell the difference based on their scat. Grizzly bear scat has the bells in it and smells like pepper. As I don’t intend to walk around in the area I’m not too worried, nor is Elan. Neither of us has bells nor pepper spray either, just bug dope.

We can see the ice fields of Kluane now but with the clouds there is not much sun. Off in the distance we can see some sun on the mountains. (I wonder if this segment of our travel blog will get uploaded before we get home or not?)

Kluane Lake, very dusty conditions, slow traffic, gravel road, big construction project going on, will slow us down. Got to the end of Kluane Lake and there is less construction but wait, there’s more. And now we have blasting ahead too, turn off your radio transmitters. The flagger came by to tell us that it would be a few more minutes then we have a few more miles of this stuff. Ahh that is so nice! Usually we are not told anything but one just sits and waits till the line moves again.

We are following an rv that has a sticker of the Good Sam Club, some of the campgrounds have the same logo too… like AAA or CAA? Hmmmm… And we are off, 3kmph… I feel sorry for the motorcyclists on the road here, they are being put in the front of the lines of traffic following the pilot cars. I guess that helps somewhat. So the line of cars slows even more, we are on a muddy, rocky road and all of a sudden see a sign that says detour, we see the original road off to the left blocked off and the detour looks like it goes right into Kluane Lake! A great optical illusion and gives us a laugh!

Slow going because of frost heaves in the road, when there is a sign for bumps you’d better slow down!

Well we crossed the border sometime ago, then stopped for dinner at Fast Eddy’s and now are speeding our way back to Anchorage. Thanks again Susan for telling Elan that you did Whitehorse to Anchorage in one day. So far the only bad thing is we got a rather larger crack in the middle of the top of the windshield. We had some rain earlier and now it is pouring, Elan’s hoping for a real good shower to clean off his car.

Do you like roller coasters? Then the road from after Whitehorse till even now, 220mi northeast of Anchorage would be the road for you. Elan is enjoying himself as he is driving, when I drove it was not so bad. I think when you drive the rollercoaster effect is lessened, or it just seems that way.

So tonight we’ll be home, this will get uploaded from home along with the pictures. The weather was beautiful along with the scenery. Mountains with glaciers, sun on the water, green forests as far as the eye can see… it is good to be home again.


****Elans Log 4099949848****

So here I am back in the passenger seat for the time being. My mom is an interesting driver. I think she is afraid of blades of grass, but I am not sure. Maybe she has a right to be, they look awfully threatening and in the night if you listen closely you can hear them whisper in the wind “I want to suck your blooooood”… or not. Seriously she is an ok driver. (I’m alive to write this, aren’t I?)

I enjoy taking the roller coaster version of the road, the bumps are fun and make the ride interesting. My mom hates them, but she laughs like she enjoys them. Who knows.

I am excited to finally be on the last leg of the trip, I am excited to finally be coming home. It has been a long six years of my life and much has changed. Sadly I did not win the lottery and get a billion dollars, but I did get a lot of job experience, and a chunk of college. All in all I’m doing well for myself, I think. Only time will truly tell.

Time to get a hair cut I think. As much as I want to grow my hair to epic proportions it is itchy and getting a bit oddly mushroom shaped. Then again this could also be credited to the fact that we did not shower this morning at the campground. Though I did manage to stick my head under a sink and the restaurant. HAHA Jokes on them!
As excited, as I am to end this trip, I am also ending it with much regret. In my six years I have made many acquaintances and have come to call a few true friends. All things I will be leaving behind in order to return to what is the only place I could every truly call home. Though I will not admit this to my mother, I will also miss our trip together. In life we share very little time with our parents, and should cherish it for what it truly is… time. Perhaps in the future we will have another road trip, maybe one a bit better planned… then again knowing me probably not.

All in all I am happy with this trip, my car, which is yet unnamed, has served me well. Lucy our trusted companion and GPS have yet to really lead us astray and Lucy has only lost her mind in the most severe of conditions. Yes, all in all I have had a good trip home.

I end this with a quote that I have heard “youth is wasted on the young”. To that quote I say humbug, if you thinks it’s wasted on the young then live vicariously through my eyes… and when you’re bored with doing that, join me on my next road trip!

We’ve arrived in Eagle River, due to the late hour though we did not stop to see Robin & Michael & Maddie! We headed on to Anchorage to wake up Shealtiel instead! The rain is accompanying us along with a beautiful rainbow. I’m hoping for a good sunset for our homecoming.

We stopped to see Shealtiel, who was not sleeping and in fact had just made himself dinner of salmon. Elan was very happy about this, as that was one of the things he talked about the whole trip, how much he wanted some salmon and halibut.

I’m writing these last few paragraphs from the comfort of my own couch. Our trip is over but Elan promises me that we’ll go on more road trips and that makes me very happy. We had a wonderful time traveling together, sure we had our moments but overall it was fabulous and I can’t wait for our next trip!

---