Alaska!!!

We made it!  We crossed into Alaska late this afternoon.  Last night, we went to bed with a light mist at Mile Marker 769 but awoke to sunshine.

We have been traveling in the Yukon Territory for the last two days.  It is wild and wonderful.  A myriad of pristine lakes rest along majestic mountains.  Raging rivers swell from the rain.  Towns are mere outposts interspersed between miles and miles of forests.

When we stopped at the visitor center in Whitehorse this afternoon, we read that there are 60,000 moose in the Yukon… over twice the number of people.  This is my kind of country!

As the day progressed, the weather and road deteriorated.  We drove in rain most of the day.  By the time we reached Destruction Bay, the road’s permafrost settlements became a challenge. 

Except for a long stretch of loose gravel around Mile Marker 375, the Alaska Highway has exceeded our expectations.  These last hundred miles or so, however, have been filled with potholes, ridges, dips, bumps, and washes.  It has been difficult to even travel the 90-kilometer speed limit.

Our sights were set to spend the night at Buffalo Creek, a small encampment just south of the Alaska state line.  We wanted to be fresh for our entrance.  All of the campsites, however, were awash in mud.  The motels that would take Roxanne were marginal… ancient trailers connected to one another… or terribly expensive.  We opted to travel on to the next campsite.

In the process, we crossed the Alaska state line.  What a wonderful surprise!  Another phase in our journey is now complete. 

Rather than drive another hour and a half to Tok, tonight we sit in a very wet field euphemistically called a campsite at “Scotty’s” just north of the Alaska line.  The site is extremely primitive, but at $11 a night, it is at least semi-dry and available. 

We share the rather small area with a group from Alabama.  They have a fire, which helps to ward off the mosquitoes, which are as large as our mosquito hawks, only with shorter legs.  Thankfully, these mosquitoes are slow and easier to squash than the ones in Texas!

So, “goodnight,” dear friends.  Tomorrow we officially begin the Alaskan portion of our journey.  What adventures lie before us?