Canada and the Alaska Highway

We passed through Canadian customs at the small town of Sumas, WA. The event was uneventful. We traveled only 251 miles on this day due to a departure time of 11:15 from Seattle. We saw some lovely landscapes and the terrain kept changing. We camped in a pull-out along the Thompson River. It was probably 200+ feet down to the water. Train tracks ran along the water's edge on both sides of the river. Trains passed by about 1 every 20-30 minutes (on one side of the river or the other). One particularly long train of coal cars had 2 engines up front, 1 engine in the middle, and 1 engine pushing from the back of the train. We got accustomed to the train noise and the occasional truck on the highway and got a pretty good night's sleep.

On Monday, the 17th we only traveled 296 miles because the two lane road was hilly and curvy. We made it to Prince George, BC where we stayed for free in the parking lot of an Indian casino. The night only cost us $200.00. LOL! ! Fuel was $4.92 a gallon.

On Tuesday, the 18th we traveled 249 miles because we wanted to stay in Dawson Creek, BC. It is Mile Marker 0 on the Alaska highway. We watched a movie about the highway at the local museum. The highway (all 1500 miles of it) was built by the army in 1942 -43 thru some of the god-awlfullest terrain known to man. The road was needed to react to the Japanese attack on a couple of the Aleutian Islands and thus the threat of an invasion of Alaska. Three white engineering divisions and two black engineering divisions built the road. As we traveled it for the rest of the week, we marveled at that accomplishment. We stayed the night in Dawson Creek.

On Wednesday, the 19th we traveled 332 miles. The road so far has be straight and hilly. The tree lined route reminded us of northern Michigan or along I-95 in the Carolinas. Got fuel in Fort Nelson, BC at $5.72 a gallon. We overnighted in a rest area east of Steamboat, BC.

On Thursday, the 20th we drove 430 miles (10 hours total). The scenery is getting to be what we came for. Mountains, lakes, rivers, wildlife everywhere. The pictures we posted don't do justice to the true look of the landscape. Wow ! It is sweet. However, longggggg stretches of the highway were under repair due to the frost heaves caused by the melting permafrost under the pavement. Gravel and more gravel with dusty conditions beyond belief. Somehow during this drive our moon roof window on the HHR was shattered. We put the windshield protector on but didn't think the moon roof would be a problem. I can't believe that the small pieces of gravel could shatter that window (poor angle of attack to "nail it" that hard). At the campground in Teslin, YT, we covered it with plastic and duct tape. We hope to get it fixed in Alaska.

On Friday, the 21st we drove 354 miles (in 9 hours) to Beaver Creek, YT. The campground there was really nice. The mountain ranges (Kluane) and the rivers were gorgeous. This was the longest day of daylight and the sun was pretty high in the sky at 11:00 PM when we went to bed.

Saturday, the 22nd brings us to our present location - North Pole, AK. We drove 342 miles today in 9 hours. The border crossing was uneventful. The road continued to be of questionable quality. It did improve in Alaska. I think that had to do with the better foundation under the road. More rock, less soil. As we got to Delta Junction, AK, we completed the nearly 1,500 miles of the Alaska Hwy. It was boring in stretches but worth every minute of it in other areas. Our motor home and car have NEVER been so dirty. Even a wash in Tok, AK didn't help much and didn't last too long. More construction ahead. Yuch.

That does it for now. We've put 5,084 miles on the motor home and another 1,100+ miles on our car. We have been on the trip since May 24th. A lot of stuff to see yet. See ya next time. Thanx for reading the blog.

Thompson River Rapids

Thompson River Valley

Boondocked along Thompson River with train tracks on both sides of the river

Long train went past our campsite, engines in the front, middle and back of train - showing the middle engine here

Black bear along BC-97

Visited the Alaska Highway House in Dawson Creek - gives history of the road watched a movie about it's construction.

Mile 0 Monument of the Alaska Highway in Dawson Creek, BC

Official entrance to the Alaska Highway

First of many road construction sites

Bridge and Alaskan Pipeline over the Peace River

This stretch of the Alaska Highway looks a lot like northern Michigan

Boondocked at rest area near Steamboat, BC - starting to see more mountains

Mountain reflections on Summit Lake

Tetsa River Valley - notice the huge guard rails ...

East end of a Stone Sheep going west

McDonald River

Female moose

Wild horses grazing along the road

Mountain near Wood Creek

Young caribou finally thinking about getting off the road after we followed it for 1/4 mile

Brunch along the Toad River

Muncho Lake - again saving money on guard rails

Muncho Lake - nice reflections

Muncho Lake is very large

Muncho Lake refletions

Woodland Bison - solitary male

Trout River - fast flowing and beautiful blue

Oops - this is back at Dawson Creek - don't know how to edit this blog very well :(

Stone sheep nibbling on something in the middle of the road for several minutes - showing no fear of our 30,000 lb. motor home

Stone sheep in no hurry to get off the road - almost had to bump it in the butt to get off the road

Woodland bison herd

Another bison herd with calves

Several miles of muddy road construction

Budget cuts have their consequences

Large male black bear munching on dandelions - their delicacy

Same black bear appears to be full and ready to move on

What can you say??? Must be casual Friday - LOL!

No mud - but dust for miles. Probably the stretch of road where our moon roof got smashed

Welcome to Yukon Territory - one of the 7 times the AK Highway crosses into the Yukon

Over 60,000 signs (and growing) in Watson Lake's "Sign Post Forest"

Beautiful mountain range along the Rancheria River

Bridge at Teslin, YT

Camped at Teslin, YT - where we discovered the smashed moon roof of our car. We protected the windshield - who knew something would happen to the roof!