Days 5 through 8

Scenery in British Columbia

Day 5 (Fri, October 1, 2010)



Mile 0 on the Alaska Highway



It was another gorgeous day – in the 60s, which is a real treat in western Canada this time of year. Today we actually got onto the Alaska Highway, which starts in Watson Creek, BC. This road is still the only option for people who want to drive through Western Canada into Alaska. It was built in 1942, is a total of 1,390 miles long from Dawson Creek, BC to Fairbanks, AK (we didn’t take it all the way to Fairbanks… we split off in Tok, AK to head to Anchorage), and was completed in a grand total of 7 1/2 months - a major accomplishment! To give you an idea of what the road is like, it’s generally a 2-lane road, and there are places to stop periodically along the way – outlined very nicely for people in the

The MILEPOST®: Legendary Alaska trip planner and Alaska travel guide to the highways, lodgings, services, etc. along the Alaska Highway.

 There is a little planning required to survive the Alaska Highway, as services are only provided every so often. There are a few “bigger” towns along the road (pop > 500 people), but a lot of what we saw were stops that contain an entity that provides one-stop shopping including gas, food, lodging, general store, etc. The rule is that if you see an open gas station and have less than half a tank of gas, you stop and fill up. I found the road with its little one-man towns quite appealing, but I’m sure lots of people would feel uncomfortable with so little available to them as they drive along thousands of miles of rural towns.

As we drove out of British Columbia and into Yukon Territory, we caught our first glimpses of the snow-capped mountains and saw lots of evergreen and birch trees. In places it looks like a carpet of green, in others we saw lots of bare trees as we get further north.

Snow Caps in the Yukon Territory

The cats have all been dealing with the stress of being on the road exceptionally well and we’re both impressed. They’ve started to get into a routine in the car – Smokey is little and has adopted the spot between the seats that has the 2 cup holders. Sami seems to like being on the passenger’s lap or on top of the large carrier, behind the driver’s seat. Kimba gravitates toward the arm rest between the seats, on top of the cargo watching out the back windows, or on the floor on the passenger’s side.



Since we are both quilters, our one concession on our long drive was to try to stop in 1 quilt shop in each state/province and today we stopped in 2… the second (Ye Olde Quilt Shop in Yukon Territory) being a real gem! I got moose/bear/wolf batik, which is not something I’ve ever seen before. I’ll tell you though, when you bring a bolt of fabric up to the cutting table in Canada and ask for a yard, your cover is instantly blown and they know that you’re American.

My fancy wild animal batik

The road got a lot more windy today as we got into the mountains. There are definite differences between American roads and Canadian roads (at least this Canadian road). A lot of stretches of this road are paved with loose gravel, don’t have any lane markings, and don’t have any guardrails. In some areas there are steep drops, so you best pay attention! As darkness started to set in this evening the wild animals started making an appearance. In total, we saw 1 black bear, 2 moose, 1 caribou, 1 sheep, 8 wild horses, and a few heard of buffalo. Kimba, who previously believed he was the biggest game in town, stood stock still on high alert when he saw the first buffalo we passed… they were huge!


Sharing the road with buffalo



Just to add some interest to our dark evening driving, we got stopped by 6 cops who were standing in the middle of the road and must have been looking for something. Undoubtedly, when they found out we were 2 girls from Kansas and New Jersey, they realized we weren’t the people they were looking for. I was driving at the time, and they asked for my license and of course under pressure of being interrogated on a dark lonely road, in a strange country, after a long day of driving, I couldn’t remember where I had last put it. Luckily, he finally said, “That’s okay, just have it out for the next time.” Ummm, okay, sure, for the next time I’m stopped by 6 Canadian police officers who are standing in the middle of the road after dark and stop me and ask for my license. Our final resting spot for tonight will be Watson Creek, Yukon Territory.

Day 6 (Sat, October 2, 2010)

Today we spent the whole day in YT. I love the road here – very enjoyable for the time I spent driving. Last night was a late night and we’re on hold posting the blog because Fox Pup’s computer seems to have picked yesterday as the day it would “crap the bed”.

We did get to see the Signpost Forest on our way out of Watson Lake this morning. Very cool – it was started in 1942 by a homesick U.S. Army G.I. who was working on the Alaska Highway. To help lift his spirits he put up a signpost pointing the way and stating the mileage to his hometown in Illinois. It has been mimicked around the world, and today has more than 10,000 signs from around the world. There are even signs for other planets. We only spent a few minutes there, but you could easily spend an hour or more just walking around. The forest is also home to some of the original equipment that was used to build the road back in 1942.


The Signpost Forest



It was sunny most of today, with a few dark clouds that sprinkled on us here and there. The road was just windy enough to keep our attention, but still allow us to maintain the comfortable 100 km/h speed limit.

The kitties seem to have adopted a schedule of sleeping all day so they stay up and play all night. When we get into the hotel room at night all we want to do is get some sleep, but apparently kitties just want to run around, play, knock things over, and generally make as much noise as they possibly can.

This was a short day, so we stopped in Whitehorse, YT (the capital) and that was a neat town – they have lots to offer and we went to their local quilt shop and took a walk around. We also went into a gift shop and were told by the locals that they got, “a good shmack” of snow last week and yesterday was back to being, “just like a summer day”… and I’m thinking to myself… “it was 44 deg F!”.

After Whitehorse we headed on our way to Haines Jct, YT, where we stopped for the night. The drive into Haines Jct was stunning – jaw-dropping snow-capped mountain peaks that we took lots of pics of. The sunset was absolutely gorgeous behind those mountains!

Day 7 (Sun, October 3, 2010)




Kluane Lake - I loved driving around this!

We left Haines Jct, YT this morning a little before 9am and it was right around freezing. It seems to start to get bright a little before 8am out here. We got even more pics on our absolutely beautiful drive out of Haines Jct and around Kluane Lake. We crossed the border back into the US about 12:30pm Alaska time (the time changes right before the border). It was a very quiet border crossing. We got to stop and take pics, there was no line at the patrol station, and there was a young male and female agent who questioned Fox Pup, opened the tailgate, checked things out, and let us through. Apparently the male agent is from Sussex County, NJ!



We made it back into the US!!!



As soon as we drove into the US we could see and feel the difference in the road. On this side it’s paved and lined. We stopped in Tok for a bit, but because it was Sunday a lot of places were closed. Tok is where we had to make our turn away from Fairbanks and toward Anchorage so we made our turn onto the Glenn Highway and spent the night about an hour SW of Tok in our own little log cabin in a town called Chistochina, AK. Our little cabin in Red Eagle Lodge was a gem! It was a restored homestead cabin that housed a whole family, was about 12’ x 18’ and had a full size bed, a twin bed (both beautifully outfitted in woodsy quilts over down comforters, with fur-like throws folded at their foot), a glider, wood-burning stove, fridge, microwave, and table with bench. There were braided rugs on the floor and books and magazines on the nightstand between the beds, and 3 walls had windows in them. An awesome place and we both really loved it!

Day 8 (Mon., October 4, 2010)


Snow caps in Alaska as we get closer to Anchorage



We left Red Eagle Lodge this morning after a delicious B&B-type breakfast and great stories from some campers on their way to move their daughter and her BF to Wasilla, AK. We hit the road about 10am and saw lots of frost heaves and little rural roadside towns… and, of course, a beautiful backdrop of mountains. At lunch time we stopped at a restaurant that had a beautiful view of the Matanuska glacier. I never saw a glacier like that and it was neat the way it was all smunched up as it was making its way through the valley.

Matanuska Glacier

We arrived in Anchorage about 3:30pm today. The roads got bigger as we got closer and by the time we were pulling into town we were on a road not unlike Rt. 78 or 287 in NJ. A couple of observations at the end of our trip: not to be gross, but we saw evidence of road kill in many places, but no bodies… that was a nice change. We were sharing the road with a lot of tractor trailers – many of them tandem trailers with 2 full-length trailers attached to the tractor. Big, big trucks – and we saw a lot of drivers who looked like they were in their early 20s! We also passed many wide loads, including some transporting windmill blades, which, if you have ever been near a wind farm, you will understand that to say that each of these blades are ENORMOUS is a severe understatement. I never ONCE saw a driver swerve across the line into our lane, 6” off my bumper, cutting me off, driving while talking/texting, etc., I found it to be a true delight to drive this road. I would not want to do this trip alone, but with the awesome company I had, it was a tremendous experience.



Downtown Anchorage



We had about 5 mins of rain as we got into town, but then the sun came out and it closed as a beautiful day. Fox Pup’s temporary housing is beautiful and she’ll be very comfortable there until she finds a house. She is apparently far from alone in moving out to Anchorage – apparently there are lots of others doing the same thing. While it sounds as if the rest of Alaska is a different story, Anchorage itself is very similar to any city in the lower 48. It has all the retail establishments we’re all used to (Kohl’s, Home Depot, PetSmart, Michaels, etc), so I believe any of us would feel comfortable living there. I did notice a very large Eskimo population there and felt very much in the minority, but it was nice to see another ethnic group thriving. I look forward to returning for a visit – this time via plane, though, so I can maximize my time in Alaska.

So, in total it took us 8 days to drive the 4,000 miles from Wichita, KS to Anchorage, AK. We drove through 7 states (KS, NE, WY, UT, ID, MT, AK) and 3 provinces (Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon Territory) and hit 8 quilt shops (in every state/province but KS and NE). Every day except today was sunny and beautiful, and today wasn’t bad, just a little overcast with a quick shower. We had 2 cameras, and on mine alone we took over 500 photos and 50 videos.  This was a trip-of-a-lifetime for me and I am so glad I had a chance to share it with my sister. I have a treasure trove of fond memories and beautiful pictures to keep forever. I hope you have enjoyed reading our blog. If I wasn’t given the idea to do this, I undoubtedly would not have taken as many pics, and probably wouldn’t have taken any video, so thank you to everyone who expressed an interest in hearing about our trip. It was nice to have you along for the ride J

Happy Trails,

Goose &

Fox Pup