We have been on the move........................

 

Since we last spoke we have traveled from Seward to Anchorage to Glennallen to Tok to Destruction Bay, Yukon Territory to Haines, Alaska.

That's 878 miles and we didn't even break a sweat. 5 straight days of driving, something we have avoided this summer up until this point. Our reservations to put the RV on the ferry are not flexible, so our travel schedule is more meaningful- we literally cannot miss the boat.

Here is a traffic stop near Palmer, AK for construction. We all get out and wander around, check the vehicles and stretch. As the summer is starting to wind down up north, the road projects have become more numerous, we saw very few of these on the way to Alaska.

Here is a traffic stop for construction near Destruction Bay. We were in Canada, that's why the 50km sign. The roads in the Yukon are not very good in the best of circumstances, and the last couple of days were not good circumstances.

Here is a traffic stop for construction in the rain and mud which made our rig and truck filthy and one of us exceedingly cranky. The other construction sections were all loose gravel and frost heaves, so slowing down manages those pretty well. This section, more than 25 miles of it, was horrible, there was no road at all, just large rocks, holes, and mud in between some orange flags. Hard to imagine it is supposed to be totally fixed before the first snow in about a month.

We followed the same RVs for many many miles. The jackwagon pulling the trailer in front of us just made Les's crankiness worse- the guy was a menace to the motoring public.

Here we are in the cutest woodsy RV park in the Tolsona Wilderness Campground. About 30 feet on the other side of the rig there was a very nice creek. We saw some people fishing, but we did not have the correct licenses to give it a try.

One dirty truck. This was in the RV park outside of Destruction Bay, which is appropriately named for what the roads do to your vehicles. Yep- still cranky.

The drive today from Destruction Bay to Haines, Alaska was gorgeous. The sun was shining for the first time in a long time. Nancy kept taking pictures while we drove along. The mountains were incredible and at one point we could see 7 different glaciers.
Only one construction area today- 2 miles of fresh chip seal. Not bad to drive on, but the oil gets all over the vehicles and is awful to try to get off.

We made 2 border crossings this week, both went without incident. Thank goodness. The US Border Patrol and Customs agents continue to be very nice and hurry us right along. You have to wonder what or who they screwed up to get posted way out here in the middle of nowhere. It is amazing they are not just mad at the world. The Canadians are much more serious about it, acting like they are mad at the whole world. Which is kinda funny- working in the middle of nowhere is pretty good for them versus having to live in Montreal or Toronto, or god forbid, Winnipeg. Oh well.

We have been enjoying audio books as we drive. We have finished a couple of John Grisham books already. The last one was about a guy who left everything and moved to Brazil- Les really liked that whole idea. Right now we're listening to The Martian. We didn't see the movie yet...................does he make it off the planet or not??? Don't tell us.

After the muddy drive we really needed a car wash and what'da ya know there was a car wash right across the street from today's RV park.
It took about an hour, $20 worth of quarters, and two whole cans of goo-be-gone but we are sparkling clean, again. Somebody's mood instantly improved- what a surprise.

We saw a few eagles today. Haines is the eagle capitol or something like that. Beautiful birds in a nice habitat- beats the heck out of longhorn steer inside a fence in Texas.

I am sorry that neither Les or I are in any of the pictures today. I shall strive to do better with that.