Moving to Alaska: Days 7, 8, and 9

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Day 7
We woke up in Whitehorse, Yukon on Day 7 after several really long and tough driving days. So we slept in, took our time with breakfast, then drove over to the Yukon River and downtown Whitehorse for a walk. Because we are book people, we visited a local bookstore. I’m now reading “Women of the Klondike” by Frances Backhouse. Mom also grabbed a Great North book and some general Canada swag.

Then back on the road! In general, it was a “short” drive at only 10 hours (they’re all short compared to our 14.5-hour day), BUT… we crossed the border back into the USA and ALASKA!!! It felt so good to see that sign!

When we stopped for a picture by the welcome sign, we ran into a guy with a U-Haul truck coming from Georgia. Here’s a weird thing we’ve noticed: there have been a ton of U-Haul’s driving past us going the opposite direction. This guy is one of less 5 we’ve seen heading the same direction we are. It’s like playing that “slug bug” car game, except we call out “U-Haul!” when another flies past us. Anyway, we find it interesting.

We ended the day in Tok, Alaska and were so ready for bed. Lots of relief and general exhaustion from long travel days led to some great sleep that night!

Day 8
So our eighth day was our side-trip day from Tok to Chicken, Alaska. We unhooked the trailer at our cabin in Tok to make the drive without it to Chicken along the “Top of the World Highway” (Taylor Highway), which is a very curvy, bumpy road. Just one of many on this trip! But Mom and I spent the day panning for gold!

To be specific, we spent four hours panning. It was hard work, but we estimate that we mined $12 in gold! Mom still has the gold fever… I do not.

The prospector who helped us was originally from Indiana and has been here for 30 years. I hope Mom’s fever passes quicker than that. Unfortunately, he told her where to find gold in Texas… Lord, help us all!

Back to Tok for the night.

Day 9
No pics today… mostly napping. Sorry!

Technically, we could drive another 8 hours to Anchorage and be done, but we have hit a wall. Pulling the trailer has been SLOW and tough on the bumpy, curvy mountain roads. Long days have caught up with us. Mom has done most of the driving since we left the US… her choice. She’s not confident in my trailer + mountain driving skills. So to breakup the last leg of driving, we’ve stopped in Glennallen, AK. When we got here and grabbed a late lunch, Mom said, “I think I’ll take a nap, then go to bed.”

I think that about sums up today. We are looking rough. We are feeling rough. Ready to be in Anchorage tomorrow!