Saturday July 5, 2014 North Pole, AK

What a beautiful morning!! Here we are in the middle of Alaska – 57° and not a cloud in the sky. The forecast is 82 today and 84 tomorrow. Unfortunately, our A/C is not working. Oh well, the forecast for Monday is 68 and rain for the rest of the week.

We had a leisurely morning. I took the pickup to the car wash while Gayle got ready. We left at 11 for Fairbanks.

We had lunch at a Chena River-front restaurant – Pikes Landing. The seating was on a large deck built out and over the river bank. As I said yesterday, the rivers are at their seasonal high so the feeling was that we were right on the water. Our lunch and the ambiance was excellent.

After lunch we went to the Discovery Landing for a 3 hour cruise aboard the Discovery III stern wheeler passenger boat on the Chena River. When we arrived at the landing, there were 5 or 6 large Greyhound-type tour buses that had already unloaded their passengers – all of which were there for the cruise. We estimated there were 300 people on the cruise. However, the seating was very comfortable.

During the gold rush and for some time after, there were 250 stern wheelers carrying cargo from the Bering Sea, up the Yukon River system to many gold rush cities including Fairbanks. These boats can operate in very shallow water (39”) which makes them ideal for these rivers. The owners of the Discovery I recognized the demise of cargo boats in the 1950's and converted the boat to passenger boat. This operation grew to what is is today.

We left the landing and visited several sites including the importance of the bush planes to Alaska, the home of the 4-time winner of the Iditerod dog sled race (Susan Butcher), a re-created Indian village, and a small herd of reindeer (caribou). All in all, the cruise was every enjoyable.

After the cruise, we went to a place called Pioneer Park. This is a re-created gold rush town aptly named Alaskaland. The “town” has several shops and a carousel. They also have an outdoor salmon bake that included a salad bar, crab legs, halibut, prime rib, and dessert. This was an excellent meal!!

On the way back to the RV park, we stopped at a home made ice cream shop. A two scoop cup of mocha almond & coffee hit the spot!!

We arrived back at the RV park at 8:30. This was a fun-packed day and we are ready for a good nights sleep!!

Thursday, July 4, 2014 – North Pole, AK

As long as we are this far north, we decided we should drive further north to visit the Arctic Circle. This is just something you have to do. The location is about 200 miles north from Fairbanks.

We left at 10 AM and followed the Elliot Highway. About 10 miles out of town, we found a roadside access point for the 800 mile Alaska Pipeline. It is amazing that this pipeline was built by 70,000 workers in two years!! The pipe is 4' diameter and insulated as the crude oil is 100 degrees. The pile supports range in depth from 15' to 60' because of the permafrost. We saw portions of the pipeline for the next 4 hours.

We drove on another 70 miles where the Dalton Highway begins. This is the north slope haul road to the oil fields at Prudhoe Bay, where the pipeline begins. This is also the location where the pavement ends.

The next 120 miles, from this point north, had short sections of pavement,and gravel, but it was mostly unsurfaced. The unsurfaced roadway is treated with dust control and is regularly graded. (The grading process also includes watering, which makes a real mess of your vehicle.) Even at that, the roadway was riddled with soft spots and chuckholes (small to large). The further north we went the worse the road became. The steeper grades were 10%-12% both up and down.

At 134 miles, we crossed the Yukon River. We thought the Yukon was big at Dawson. Boy were we wrong. This river is HUGE. The bridge is about ¾ mile across and maybe 200' above the river. This is the “spring runoff” time of year. All of the streams are bank-full, including the Yukon. At this crossing, the river is probably ½ mile across and running very fast.

As we traveled along, we were able to see the pipeline at various locations, as well as other sites. We stopped at a rest area at a location called Finger Mountain. We are not sure how it got its name.

We arrived at Latitude 66° 33' – the Arctic Circle – at 2:30 PM. There is a BLM sign and roadside camping area for visitors. To our surprise, there were a bunch of people there. A 20 passenger tour bus, several motorcycles, and cars, of course. The camp host said they had greeted 130 people so far today. We took photos, got our official “Arctic Circle Crossing” certificate, ate lunch, and headed back at 4 PM.

We got back to town at 8:30. We were both exhausted and felt beat up from the rough roads. We had dinner and showered. By this time, it was 12:30 AM, but still pretty light outside. Gayle has hung towels over the windows of our bedroom to give us a little darkness.

What a great way to spend the 4^th of July!!! We had a good night of rest!!

Wednesday, July 3, 2014 – North Pole, AK

When we arrived at Chicken, we had to reset our clocks as Alaska is one hour behind the Pacific Zone.

Although the shadows were long, at 11:30 PM, the sun was still shining down on Chicken. When we went to bed, we had to hang a cover over the window to shut out the light.

Today we drove from Chicken, AK to North Pole (a town just east of Fairbanks). We anticipated a slow beginning – 80 miles of roadway similar to that we drove on yesterday plus 200 miles from Tok to Fairbanks. So...we decided to leave at 8 AM – we got up at 6 AM and were on the road by 7:45 – what a great beginning. Gayle finally got cell service in Tok, where she was able to talk with Heidi. During their conversation, they discussed the time difference from Mountain Zone – 1 hour??? Ooops!! Instead of moving the clock back from Pacific, I moved it forward. We were on the same time as Denver!! We actually left Chicken @ 5:15 Pacific. No wonder no one else was up and about!! We arrived in North Pole earlier than expected, too. Funny how that works. Our clocks are now on the correct zone :-). (Oh yah – about the sun at 11:30 last night – it was only 9:30. And we got up at 4.)

We were right about the first 80 miles. It took about 2½ . On the way, we were able to see Mt McKinley – from about 300 miles away. Even at that, it was awesome!!

The rest of the trip was interesting but routine. We saw 2 moose and we stopped at a local shop that has yard art constructed from burl wood. Very artistic, I must say!!

We arrived at the very well maintained Riverview RV Park. We will stay here for 4 nights before moving on to Denali. Tomorrow, we will visit the Arctic Circle – about 150 miles north of Fairbanks.

July 2, 2014 Chicken, Alaska

Yahoo!! We are back in the USA!! Happy to be here, too!!

Today we had a 107 mile drive to Chicken, AK via the Top of the World Highway. It was to be a little slow, but we were not in a big hurry. We left the RV park at 10:00 AM. We arrived at Dawson's Yukon River Crossing ferry at 10:05 to find that we were the 15^th RV in line to make the crossing for the Top of the World Highway.

We inched our way ahead as the ferry loaded cars, pickups, semi trucks, motorcycles, pedestrians, and RV's. I timed the ferry from the Dawson side over and back. 20 Minutes. Lets see, one RV every 20 minutes = about a 4 hr wait. Oh well!!

We disembarked the ferry at 1:00 PM (only 3 hrs wait :-) and headed out of the Yukon River valley towards Chicken. The road was paved (for about 4 miles) then it was gravel with dust control. Not bad. We were cruising at 35-40 mph. Hmmm... we should be in chicken in 2½ hours. NO SO!! The road condition went from fair to not-so-good and we encountered steep grades (both up and down) that required us to shift into 1^st gear and travel at 15-20 mph. Still not bad!!

The road did take us to the “Top of the World”. We had vistas that were absolutely amazing. We could see for 20-30 miles at times. The mountains and valleys were gorgeous. We stopped several times to take in the views.

At 70 miles into the journey, we reached the Canada/USA border. No problem – cruised right through with our Enhanced Drivers Licenses. I asked the guard about the road conditions from the station to Chicken. She said there was road construction for 13 miles (damn engineers!!) and that the surface was rough. The road surface was VERY rough and the grades were steep at times. Our speed dropped to 10-15 mph!! At 83 miles, we left the construction area and traveled an unsurfaced road that had soft spots, pot holes, and wash board. At times the roadway was narrow and the outside shoulders were soft (drop off of 100'-500') and had Gayle on the edge of her seat.

I failed to mention that we encountered rain showers (and one down pour) along the way. The roadway turned to a skim of mud that coated our pickup and trailer from the front bumper back. Maybe we will get more rain tomorrow and wash it off!!

We arrived at Chicken at 6PM (5 hrs) and were ready for the day to be over. There are 2 RV parks here and 3 restaurant - of which 2 of them closed at 7PM. We chose to dine at the one that is famous for their chicken pot pie. (What else would you eat in Chicken, AK?) The service was great and the microwave only took 3 minutes!! However, the pot pie was less than a scrumptious meal!! Of course, what would you expect for $14 bucks.

We returned to the trailer at 7:45, took showers and turned in for the night. (Night??? Did we mention that is doesn't get dark here this time of year??)

Tomorrow we will drive to North Pole, AK  (via Tok Jct.  About 280 miles. We plan to stay 4 days.

July 1, 2014 Dawson City, YT, Canada

Today is rainy and cool (60 F). We had a really laid back day. We started late and finished early.

We went into town (about 1 mile) to see the attractions. Upon arrival, we were reminded that July 1 is Canada Day (similar to our Independence Day). So we got to enjoy the Dawson parade which included the royalty, the RCMP color guard, every child with a bicycle, a cruise line tour bus, and the fire department (2 antiquated trucks and 2 new units). The parade lasted about 10 minutes. The kids were cute.

After the parade we milled around town and went to the ferry ramp to access the size of the Yukon River ferry. Looks like our unit will fit. The ferry runs nearly all day, is fare-free, and is the route for the Top of the World Highway to Chicken, AK.

On the way back to the RV park, we drove up the Klondike Highway east of Dawson. This was the major dredge mining district in the late 1890's. We saw miles and miles of dredge tailings and a few operating placer mines.

The rest of the day was perfect for R & R!!

Tomorrow we will drive 107 miles to Chicken..

June 30, 2014 Dawson City, Yukon Territory, Canada

Yahoo!!! We have finally reached the Klondike in the Yukon River valley!!!!

We had a great day. We left Whitehorse at 7:30 AM for our 320 mile drive to Dawson City. The scenery along the way reminded us of several areas of Idaho including the Silver Valley, Elk River, and the Elk City area. We had assumed the road would follow along the Yukon River. WRONG!! We actually only saw the Yukon three times. The road is routed over and around the mountains and valleys. The vegetation was so heavy and tall, for a good share of the trip, we could only see the road in front of us. Pictures are of the Dawson Range and the Yukon River.

As we drove along, we came upon a roadside restaurant in the middle of nowhere. However, Gayle had read that they are famous for their cinnamon rolls. No more needed to be said. This roll measures 8” across and is 3½” thick!!

The road was fairly good the first 100 miles, but then we saw this sign:

Having been in the transportation engineering business for the bigger portion of my career, I was not familiar with nor had I ever had seen a sign with this warning. Gayle and I discussed what it may mean. Then we figured it out. ROLLER COASTER ROAD AHEAD. These were actually frost heaves and sags in the roadway. Unfortunately, we did not slow enough for a pickup pulling a 31' travel trailer.

At first it was like a porpoise landing in an airplane – that is where the nose gear touches down first and bounces the nose up, then down, then up, then down before making the final landing!!

Then, it was like a motorcycle moto-cross track. You know the double jump...and the rider doesn't make it to the second hump and lands short, smashing the front wheel into the mound???? Well, we are sure that all 8 of our tires were off the ground about the time we hit the second frost heave. Hell, when you are in mid air you can't slow down!!! Our necks still hurt!!!

We stopped down the road a bit to re-arrange the stuff in the trailer – some of the stuff actually landed in places you would never believe!!

Even after all of that, we arrived in Dawson at 4:30. That is only 36 mph average speed.

Perhaps tomorrow we will get out the gold pans and try our luck??? You never know!!

June 29, 2014 – Whitehorse, Yukon Terr.

We left Watson Lake around 9:00 AM for our 240 mile drive to Whitehorse. We were on Canadian Rt 2 which is similar to our US Highways. US 2 north of Spokane and west of Airway Heights would be a good comparison. The drive was easy and the scenery was great, but not as pectacular as the Cassiar/Stewart highway.

We arrived in Whitehorse around 2:30, set up the trailer at the High Country RV Park. We were a little low on supplies, so we found the Wal-Mart and re-stocked.

Just a side note: The exchange rate from CA is favorable as $.92 US = $1.00 CA. That being said, EVERYTHING costs more than the US. Gasoline has ranged from $4.50 to $5.60/US gal. Fresh food costs a bunch more too. Min price of beef is around $8.00/lb; pork is around $6.00, and chicken is $5.00. Produce is also higher. We bought ice cream bars for $4.60 each (and yes they were hard to swallow!!)

Tomorrow, we have a bit longer day. 320 mile drive from Whitehorse to Dawson City on the Yukon River. We will stay two nights there before moving on.

Having a great time!!