FandA: Catching Up

6/3/13

We've been in Alaska since the 22nd and it's just magnificent. I'll need to backtrack and catch up on my blog so please bear with me. I wake up every morning praising God and thanking Him for the blessings of this adventure. Our Alaskan Adventure began in Dawson Creek at Mile Marker 0.

5/22/13 Wednesday

We crossed into Alaska at 1:00 this afternoon and are now on Alaskan Time. There is now a 4 hour time difference to home. The road today is by far the worst we’ve experienced – just like one of guide books indicated. Not only are there bumps, but there are heaves. Because the road was built on permafrost (permantely frozen soil) it isn’t stable. So, up, down, side to side with a slight roll and thumps. It’s easy to feel seasick and it’s certainly not easy on Fran.

We made it!

We can now see the Wrangell Mountains on our left. The tops have heavy snow cover and the lakes we’ve passes are still frozen while many of the streams and creeks are not. The only wildlife we’ve seen is swans, a very small, black beaver ambling across the road and a grouse. The beaver is the only one we could capture on film. The scenery is breathtaking. So is the wildlife that we continue to see along the way:

to here "boing" This cute creature was on the road on the way to Alaska. This was taken while still in Canada around one of the Lakes - Summit Lake

from here to

5/23/23 Thursday

Today we arrived in Delta Junction and completed our trip on the Alaskan-Canadian Highway. We’ve travelled 1422 miles from Dawson Creek to Delta. I’ll backtrack to our Canadian journey as I begin entering data now from Alaska. We’ve had very little or no Internet and phone service for two weeks.

At Delta Junction we took pictures of the road marker, a variety of vehicles used during the road construction, purchased fishing licenses and had a terrific lunch at a local old timey drive-in. Fran got the buffalo burger and I got the halibut so we could share a surf ’n turf meal. I don’t think we’ll get tired of these two meal types. I think this is my 3^rd halibut and I plan to eat much more.

Highway Equipment

And another

Fran & sulpture. Everything you've heard about Alaskan Mosquitoes is false. They're much worse :-). But, with proper replellant we're managing just fine.

We toured the old Sullivan Roadhouse and talked with Bob, a volunteer, all about the roadhouse and the area. He also provided us with additional tips about the area and was very informative. He even took our picture in authentic Indian clothing. Very heavy and very warm.

Dressed for winter.

Bob, our Volunteer Guide at Sullivan Road House.

Continuing the Richardson Highway we are now on our way to Quartz Lake. We caught our first moose, a cow and her two calves. At the Tanana River we got our first glimpse of the Pipeline. Lake Quartz is also frozen but we enjoyed a nice quiet evening and prepared to head out to Fairbanks. We also talked with another Ranger, Allen, who was originally from Winchester, VA. He asked if we’d be interested in coming back and serving as campground hosts for a couple of weeks at Clearwater Lake. We might do that. Clearwater has a site of 16 camping areas and would not require as much maintenance as the others.