Thursday, July 23, 2009

MADE IT TO VALDEZ

Today is Thursday 7/23, but here's a recap since Monday (since we haven't had internet)

Mon. 7/20: Pink Mountain, BC - North of Watson Lake, Yukon. 479miles/12hour day.
AlCan was good to Fort Nelson, then it got rough. Went through some horrible contruction (extremely dusTy/dangerous), but made it through okay. Ft. Nelson - Watson Lake was PRIME wildlife viewing (thanks for the heads-up, Sandra!) We saw: black bear, caribou, Stone sheep, moose, beaver, beaver dams, buffalo, fox and grouse.

Tue. 7/21: Watson Lake, Yukon - Haines Junction. 356miles/9hour day
We didn't cover as many miles, but stopped for a bit at the Continental Divide and stopped at a fantastic museum in Whitehorse. It was about Beringia and the ice age...we learned a lot! We took a walk in Haines Junction on a paved road into town and found a bakery/cafe/coffee shop/ice cream shop/store. T and J got ice cream (even though they were cold) and N8 and I got coffees. It was a nice walk and a cute town. Stays light til 11p-12a, so we don't even notice how late it is!

Wed. 7/22: Haines Junction, Yukon - VALDEZ, ALASKA. 547miles/12.5 hour day
This was a l-o-n-g day, but so worth it. 547 miles is a good day, but SUPER impressive when driven on the AlCan, over frost heaves going 40miles/hour, in a big RV. It was cool (chilly!), cloudy and rainy most of the way from Tok. We planned on staying in Tok, even fueled up and got coffee at a little coffee shack, but noticed the Salmon Bake was closed, so we decided to move on. What's another 256 miles (Tok-Valdez) when you've already driven 3700?? We arrived at our campground in Valdez at 10:15pm (Alaska time).

We never had to unhook the Jeep!! And we only ate out once, something we wish we didn't even do...it's so much more pleasant (and fast, and cheaper) to just snack in the RV and keep going.

TOTAL MILES: 4016.9 (taking 8 full days)

Today, Thu. 7/23, it is cold (high 40's) and raining. We are right next to the marina which is handy in case Nathan does get to come back during his 7 days on the water, he can just walk 'home'. We have a beautiful view of the mountains and the water. We've already taken a walk into town and eaten breakfast. Our choices were bacon or ham, cheese, and egg sandwich or wrap. We all had a sandwich, the kids each got a drink, N8 got a coffee and I got a water. $38.oo. Whoa. We won't being doing much of that!

~L

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