drivetofive

Odometer:  167,325

Day Distance & Time:  701 Miles;  12 hours, 11 minutes

Overall Trip Distance & Time:  3,626 Miles;  57 hours, 46 minutes

The Land of the Midnight Sun, they call it.  Around June 21, the sun will be visible here in Fairbanks for all 24 hours of the day.  As of right now, a few weeks away from that, I can tell you that it’s midnight and I’m looking out the 2^nd floor window of Super 8 and it’s nowhere near getting dark yet.  I guess the daylight trickery was part of the reason why Jason and I felt motivated enough to chug through a few extra miles this evening and get us to our final destination.  We logged in a total of 701 today, which beat our last couple days’ worth by quite a bit.  The crazy part is that today we also experienced more construction and weather-related delays than any other leg of the trip.

It all started at our quaint cabin in Teslin, Yukon where we headed out northbound on British Columbia Highway 97.  We passed a distance marker that gave us the remaining distance to Fairbanks – a staggering 1010 kilometers.  I didn’t think in a million years we’d actually end up going that far today, but we did.

It only took us about 90 minutes to get to the capitol of the Yukon Territory:  Whitehorse.  It’s a surprisingly large and modern city (pop. 23,000) for being in such an extreme region of the world.  They even have (and thanks Jason for noticing from a mile away) a full-blown Honda dealership there. With a red (instead of blue) sign!

We fueled up at Petro Canada down the street and switched the wipers into high gear to fight rain showers all the way to Haines Junction where they finally let up a bit.  Neither one of us had a huge appetite but we did need to use the restroom.  We opted to pull a roadside bathroom break in the trees when we saw that the Alcan Motor Inn had no public washroom.

Photo re-create!

2006:

2016:

The external temp readout on the ILX showed a chilly 40 degrees outside as we made our way north-westward toward Kluane National Park and Reserve, home to the Yukon’s largest lake.  The clouds began parting just enough to allow us to see a hint of blue sky as we parked the cars along the shoreline for a quick photo in the near-freezing wind.  I was surprised at how large the waves in the lake were.

From our vantage point on the southern shore, it sounded a lot like the ocean.  As we closed in on ½ tank fuel remaining, I decided it was best that we again top off, so we visited Fas Gas in “Destruction Bay” for some 87 octane fuel.  The attendant inside had to activate the ancient pumps for us.  He had a cork board hanging behind his counter where he’d clip the credit card according to pump number to keep them in order.  He wasn’t very chatty but I didn’t care for small talk anyway; we had places to go yet.

A couple of things happened around that time:  The road got really bad, and the scenery got really good.  Clouds parted and we now had a perfect view of the huge snow-capped peaks surrounding us.  Traffic was so light I was able to park the ILX in the middle of the road and take a picture of it.

The roller-coaster ride for the remaining 115 or so miles to the U.S. border gave my car’s suspension a serious workout.  I think I caught air on at least one occasion.  And then there was the construction.  At one point, we had to wait several minutes for a pilot car to come get us and lead us through a muddy stretch of road.  Meanwhile all I had to do was look at the scenery around me to realize that I didn’t care about the delay at all.

Beaver Creek, Yukon was the last stop before entering the U.S. of A.  The eastbound Canadian Customs checkpoint was a full 30 kilometers separate from the westbound U.S. Customs checkpoint.  And the actual “Welcome to Alaska” sign is actually a bit before the Customs station.  Odd layout, but I guess it works!  As Jason and I communicated via walkie talkie, there was a definite sense of glee as we both saw the wooden sign coming up.  We’d driven a very long way for that occasion.  In my case, a total of 3,333 miles since I’d left my driveway last Friday morning.  We staged a few photos and pressed on.

This sign, by the way, has been removed sometime in the last 10 years!  I was so bummed!

Now we “gained” another hour, putting us an hour behind Pacific.

I was ready to stretch legs and get out of the car (permanently?!) by the time we got to Tok – just starting to feel a little overwhelmed when I thought about how far we’d come, and also how far we had yet to go (a couple hundred miles).  But after a burger at Fast Eddy’s, I was feeling a little more motivated.  The U.S. road conditions were only marginally better than Canada’s.  The presence of road markings was at least consistent.

We got to the “official” end of the Alaska Highway in Delta Junction (1,422 miles since Dawson Creek, British Columbia) and there was surprisingly little fanfare.  I nearly blew right past the Visitor Center, in fact.  We staged a couple of re-creation pictures once again (above).  Did you notice I’m even wearing the same sweater in both?

I also learned some history about the road itself.  A wooden sign reads:

This highway was constructed during World War II as a military supply route for interior Alaska Military and Airfields in 1942.  7 Army regiments and 42 contractors and public roads administrators working from Delta Junction South and Dawson Creek North completed it when they met at Soldiers’ Summit at Kluane Lake, Yukon Territory in November 1942.  At the peak of construction, 77 contractors employed 15,000 men and 11,000 pieces of road-building equipment.  The total construction cost for 1,422 miles was $115,000,000.

By this time I was in a “GIT ‘R DUN” mindset so Jason and I both decided, in looking at the lack of quality motels in Delta Junction, that we might as well press on and head to our finish line in Fairbanks – only 95 more miles down the road.  And that we did!  Stopping just briefly in North Pole for (of course) a picture at the Santa Claus house.

When my dad and I stopped here in 2006, I bought the deed to 1 square inch of North Pole land for $5.  I should see what my property’s worth in today’s real estate market up here.

And now it’s time for us (and our trusty vehicles) to get some much-needed rest.  Let’s see where the trip takes us from here.  Jason has just notified me that the Arctic Circle entrance sign is just 5 hours north of us on the Dalton Highway toward Prudhoe Bay.  Ten hours round trip for a sign?  It’s tempting :).

Thanks for coming along!

Bridge in the Yukon this morning

Fueling up at Petro Canada in Whitehorse, YT

Yukon Honda!

I pulled up the satellite view of our location at one point

Kluane Lake, YT, in the background

Driving through Kluane

Peace sign as reflected in this ancient gas pump, filling my car with some 87 octane.

Views for days

Construction zone (one of several)

View as I waited for a pilot car at a construction zone.  Not bad.

My home away from home!

Beaver Creek:  “Most Westerly Community in Canada” – just prior to the Alaska state line

Quick stop at Beaver Creek

Approaching U.S. Customs

Yay!  Back to miles instead of kilometers

U.S. roads ahead

90 octane was considered “V Power” in Tok, Alaska

Fueling up in Tok

Leaving our lunch spot in Tok:  Fast Eddy’s

ILX at Santa’s house.  Have you all been good this year?

I should pick up a load of goodies for some friends back home.

Fairbanks upon our arrival.

Fun to see my friend map and know that I’m way up here!

G’nite and thanks for reading!

Odometer:  166,623

Day Distance & Time:  617 Miles; 9 hours 48 Minutes

Overall Trip Distance & Time:  2,924 Miles; 45 hours 33 Minutes

“It’s like driving through a Bob Ross painting,” I told Jason via walkie-talkie as we crested the Yukon Highway 1 near the Liard River today, with “happy” pine trees in the foreground and the looming, snowy peaks in the distance.  Today’s scenery has been endless and awe-inspiring.  We put in a long day, at 9 hours 48 minutes, but it went by quickly because we were too busy enjoying the surroundings.  Best of all?  ZERO CELL SERVICE most of the day.  Staying unplugged today (until now) was one of the most enjoyable things I’ve ever done.

I definitely think we timed this trip perfectly.  Springtime is sprouting all over, the roads are free of snow, and yet the peak tourist season isn’t yet underway so we rarely have to deal with a slow-moving RV in our way.  For miles upon miles, we had the roads to ourselves today.  Every once in awhile a tractor-trailer would come barreling toward us I’d wave just to see if I could get its driver to do the same back.  I was in my element.

Jason and I survived our showers in non-clear water at the Buffalo Inn in Pink Mountain, British Columbia this morning. The gal in the restaurant this morning told me I could have a banana for the road, and I wasn’t super hungry so that’s all I cared to have for breakfast.  Just 35 miles into our drive, we had a black bear sighting on the left shoulder of the road.  I didn’t have time to brake & snap a photo in time, but it was an eye opener and definitely not something I’m accustomed to seeing out in the wild in Arizona!

There was very strong evidence of forest fires in some areas as we made our way up Highway 97.  But soon the landscape changed from pine tree forests to a very rocky canyon called Stone Mountain Provincial Park.  There were signs warning us to watch for sheep in the road but we didn’t have any sightings (probably because I wasn’t paying close enough attention).  We got photos at an abandoned service station in Summit and then continued on toward Muncho Lake about 40 minutes down the road.  Even though the clouds had started drizzling on us, it didn’t dampen my spirits because I soon saw the lake itself in all its turquoise glory.  The road winds along its edge for about 6 miles before arriving at the log cabin-styled Northern Rockies Lodge which was our next pit stop.

Once again I’ve thrown a kink into my fuel tracking because (for the first time in ownership of my ILX) I don’t know what octane I pumped there.  There were only two options:  Unleaded and Diesel.  I had to go inside the lodge and leave a credit card on file before the attendant would activate the pump.  The car took 22 or so liters of fuel and I’m sure I paid a crazy premium price for it, but I didn’t want to risk pressing on to the next stop given I was already down to about ½ tank and I like to travel on the top half whenever possible.

There were only 3 lunch menu selections inside the restaurant at the Northern Rockies Lodge, and each one cost $18.  I went with the ham & cheese sandwich and it came with a side salad.  The price gave me sticker shock until I read something on the menu that surprised me:  Groceries are delivered to Muncho Lake twice a week, by truck, from Edmonton, Alberta (800 miles away).  Now I didn’t feel too bad about the $18 sandwich.  Dorothy, our server, commented as the rains started coming down more heavily, “It’s liquid sunshine out there.”  I liked that.

Buffalo sighting!

We passed a few “AVALANCHE AREA” signs – once again something very foreign to a desert dweller like me.  I have to imagine this area and its roads area extremely rugged for most of the year.  We did get stuck in a few construction-related stops where we had to wait for a pilot vehicle to guide us through, and two of those construction zones were on muddy / gravel roads of about 10 miles in length.  Road conditions elsewhere were surprisingly good, aside from the occasional frost heaves (most of which are clearly marked with yellow signs).  I love a good roller-coaster highway anyway.  Yukon Territory entry sign:  2006 & 2016.

Watson Lake, Yukon Territory’s most famous attraction is its signpost forest.  People from all over the world have taken signs of any sort – mostly license plates or the like – to nail to the boards.  There are thousands of them.  Jason contributed a New Mexico license plate to the cause, and I pinned up a dealership plate from Acura of Tempe, Arizona – just because I thought to grab one when I got my last oil change.

Now came the moment of figuring out how far we wanted to go that night.  We weren’t quite spent so I looked at the map and figured we could make it to Teslin (166 miles) in about 2.5 or 3 hours, so I called ahead to the Yukon Lodge and made a reservation for the night.  It must have been the Red Bull I picked up in Watson Lake but I somehow got my “second wind” and I was listening to music at max volume, moonroof open, and chair dancing by the time we did get to Teslin.  I re-created a 2006 photo near the bridge leading into town (first pic in this post) before we checked in for the night to cabin #16.

One interesting thing I’ve learned about Canada is its special credit card policy.  Your card will never leave your sight.  If you’re dining out, the wait staff will bring a handheld swiper to your table and print a receipt on the spot.  In the States, we give away our card and send it to who-knows-where with the server until they return with a receipt.  Here, there’s no chance for funny business so I think it’s a good concept.

With that, here are the rest of today’s pics!

Check that bath water!

I found this drink in BC.  “Five Alive,” so it felt fitting to drink it while wearing my “Alive with Five” T-shirt!

Best thing I saw on my phone all day!

Forest fire remains along Hwy 97

The sign at left means “hold on – it’s a rollercoaster of a road coming up.”  Frost heaves do a number on these highways.

Nice long, straight stretch.

Waiting for the green light in one of the dirt road / construction stretches.

Bridge crossing.  The road surface is metal on these, and it has a tendency to grab your steering wheel and steer it for you.

Entering Stone Mountain

Quick pic at (abandoned) Summit Cafe there.

Pumps are long since out of order, too.

Old “rolly” numbers like an odometer!

Getting out of the cars to enjoy the air and the scenery.

Loved the peaks in the distance.

Same angle in 2006:

Muncho Lake

Gas pump at Muncho

Northern Rockies Lodge

The $18 ham & cheese

Rain coming down as we departed

Yukon entry comparison:  2006 & 2016

Watson Lake Sign Post Forest

With Jason at the entrance

Is that a butch enough expression?

Now heading out on Yukon Hwy 1 toward Whitehorse

Market in Watson Lake.  One-stop shop!

I found an Acura RSX in the Yukon!  Wearing snow tires.

Alrighty, time to call it a night!  Tomorrow, Alaska at last.

Odometer:  166,005

Day Distance:  499 Miles

Trip Distance:  2,306 Miles

It feels weird to be checking in for the night when I still need sunglasses to walk outside.  It’s so bright outside, yet it’s 7:23 in the evening.  As we get farther north, the days are very long – which is nice, but also a little dangerous because it encourages you to drive past your limits when fatigued.  Jason and I decided to pit stop here – at the “town” of Pink Mountain, which amounts to nothing more than a motel, restaurant, and gas station.  The address is “Mile 143 Alaska Highway.”  So see if your smartphone’s map app can find such a place.

What a great day on the road it’s been!  Our “official” Alaska Highway travels are now underway.  Up until this morning, we’d only traveled what’s referred to as the East Access Route.  This afternoon, upon arrival into Dawson Creek, BC, we’d finally reached Mile Zero of the 1,422-mile stretch of road formerly known as the Alcan Highway.  Hoorah!

This morning it was blustery and 40 degrees Fahrenheit in Edmonton, Alberta when we bid farewell to my friend Cole and met up with another friend, Chris, for a meet-up at a Starbucks on the west end of town.  Chris runs the AcuraConnected.com site and has been a long-time friend since he and I first met at the Detroit Auto Show in January 2012 as invited guests / bloggers of Acura.  He drives a super-duper clean 2005 Acura TSX which be brought out for today’s occasion.  (It even still has protective plastic on the door sills, ooooh!).  It was great to catch up with Chris and thanks to Victoria Day, a Canadian holiday, that he had the day off work and was able to do so.

Westward we went, to connect with Highway 43 which took us to Whitecourt.  I made small talk with a couple from Alabama at an Esso gas station who are on a 5-week-long RV trip to Alaska.  When the guy told me he and his wife would be putting the RV on a ferry to ride back to Seattle, I told him, “That’s cheating.  You have to drive it both ways!”  He got a kick out of that.  Skies cleared up and by the time we made it to Valley View, we had nearly completely blue skies and vivid green forests on either side of us.  Doesn’t this road just make you want to haul butt?

Too bad it’s only a 110 km/hour limit.  Which ends up being around 65 mph.  Yawn!

I’d been feasting on a bag of Jack Links jerky for awhile (I somehow managed to eat nearly the entire large bag, actually).  But it was time to get something more substantial for lunch.  We dined in Grande Prairie at a restaurant chain called Tim Horton’s, and it was there that we first started seeing signs pointing us in the direction of the Alaska Highway.  That was exciting for us.   After Grande Prairie the split highway ended and we merged into a two-laner which will remain for the rest of our trip.  We grabbed a snapshot at the British Columbia provincial line and cruised on our way into Dawson Creek.

Look how much better today’s weather was than what my dad & I had in 2006.

I remembered how limited the services & amenities are up here so I pulled out my Milepost map and tried to figure out how far we should drive today.  I called one motel a couple of hours up the road called the Sasquatch Crossing Lodge which advertises “daily sasquatch sightings.”  Unfortunately, the number rang and rang with no answer.  So I tried Plan B, which ended up being the Buffalo Inn.  The woman who answered the phone told me there was vacancy tonight.  Then she said, “Great, see ya tonight.”  “Do you need my information?” I asked.  “Nah,” she said.  “You’ll be fine.”

This motel is a story in itself.    Sure enough, when we went to check in, there was a piece of notepaper with a Sharpie-written note with ROOMS AVAILABLE: scrawled across the top, and the front desk attendant – who was at the time doubling as the restaurant hostess – got us checked in to room #112 for $110 Canadian for the night.  “Casual” doesn’t begin to describe this place.  The wood floor is unfinished and the furniture in the lounge area has camo print fabric.  My dad would eat this up.  He’d wear camo head to toe every day if my step-mom allowed it.

Oh, and the water’s brown.  “It’s safe to drink, though” she assured us.  I’m serious.  The toilet looks like it needs to be flushed, but it already has.  At least they’ve made bottled waters available to us for free.

So here we are – I’m over 1/4 of the way through my overall trip, mileage wise.  I’m also about 1,600 songs into a 15,000 song iPod so plenty more listening to do before that selection is exhausted.  Rock on, everyone!

First milestones (kilometer-stones?) this morning:

“Moose Row” – watch out for those bad boys!

Cool Northwest Territories bear-shaped license plate I saw on a minivan in Valley View.

First signs for Alaska!  In Grande Prairie, Alberta.

Lunch at Tim Horton’s was some sort of Italian toasted bagel with potato wedges on the side.

Apparently Jason and I are the only ones who didn’t get the memo to back in at the restaurant.  Is that a rule?

Check out these side-by-sides in Beaver Lodge.  2006 on top, 2016 on bottom.  Also a slightly different angle, but we did the best we could at the re-creation!

Next distances:

Finally in Dawson Creek at the start of the Alaska Highway.  Since 1942 this place’s claim has been that it’s “Mile Zero.”

Mile marker in the middle of an intersection in town.

Doing some route planning on the go with my fold-out Milepost map.

We dealt with some steep grades today.  We also observed that painted road lines are largely nonexistent on a lot of stretches of road.  You want to pass?  Dare to?  Go for it.

View overlook at Gundy Road pullout.

Here’s where I’d hoped to stay:  Sasquatch Crossing.

Darn, I had to leave my muddy boots and my coveralls outside at the motel!  Haha.

Here’s the exterior of the Buffalo Inn.  When was the last time you saw a Pontiac 6000?

Dining room

Speaking of, I’m heading to that dining room now.

To all who are following along, THANKS, and I hope you’re having as much fun with this as I am!

Odometer (ILX):  165,505

Day Distance:  658 Miles

Trip Distance:  1,806 Miles

Ahoy from Canada!  I just learned more about Canada in the last hour at dinner with my friend Cole than I did in all of middle school & high school combined.  He grew up in British Columbia but has lived in Alberta for the last few years.  And he’s acting as a gracious host for us in opening up his home for our nightly stay here before Jason and I truck on through on our journey to Alaska.  Beats Motel 6 by a long shot!  Plus we got to take his 1976 Ford F-250 to dinner.

The day started out with about an 8:00 a.m. departure from Butte, Montana.  It was a cool morning with partly cloudy skies and the scent of freshly-fallen rain.  Loved it.  A big chunk of our journey was spent on Interstate 15 northbound in Montana – the first few hours, anyway.

The highway curves through the Beaverhead Lodge National Forest toward the state capitol, Helena, then continues north to Great Falls where the landscape levels out a bit and becomes more manageable for a kick-back driving style.  We fueled up in a small town called Conrad – our last chance to get fuel before it was sold by the liter.  Jason commented “It’s the perfect buffet for a road tripper!” in regard to the selection of items available at the gas station for food.  I grabbed some string cheese and deviled eggs.

The border checkpoint at Sweetgrass, Montana was quiet.  In the 4 lanes that were open, there were no waiting cars.  Jason and I were the only ones arriving.  And, as it turns out, he breezed right through long before I did.  For some reason the agent had about 20 questions for me, including the origin & destination my trip, my career, the amount of cash I was carrying, and a variety of other things.  I just answered politely and tried to make the experience drama free – which it was.

From there, I got us a little bit lost in Lethbridge when I missed paying attention to a critical turnoff.  As a result, we ended up on a road called “Scenic” Road, which was appropriate because that’s exactly the route it ended up being.  Jason followed me on over to Highway 2 northbound.  In the process, the rains started coming down, and we watched a bit of a crisis take place when somehow a ski boat on a trailer became detached from the truck that was towing it, and went cruising down the shoulder unattended.  Brake lights illuminated in front of me as people hurriedly went to try and stop it somehow but it eventually came to rest in a grassy area.  What the heck?

We fueled up as the Esso in Claresholm where 91 octane was selling for 119 cents per liter.  My fuel spreadsheet just got a whole lot more complicated.  As did my phone situation:  I had to spend about 15 minutes on the phone with Verizon trying to get my data plan activated for international use.  I guess Verizon has a $2.00 / day plan so that’s what I went with.  Thankfully that drama got ironed out and I was able to use my phone again in short order.

With Jason still in my rearview, we went on through Calgary – the province’s largest city.  Industry there thrives around oil and gas.  We found traffic on Highway 2 to be pretty smooth flowing on the 4-lane-wide freeway except for a piece of construction where they were doing some bridge work.  We found a great Italian restaurant callled Pacini right near the Calgary (YYC) airport.  My favorite part about the restaurant was the “bread bar” where they had slices of various types of bread available with oil, vinegar, pesto butter, and even a grill to toast it on.  And I got a kick out of the fact that every TV in the bar area had a hockey game on it.  Oh, Canada!

The last few hours of today’s drive were drenched in drizzling non-stop rain as we closed in on Edmonton.  Speed limits were 110 km/h on the highway and I got used to knowing that was about 65 miles per hour.  I pulled into Cole’s housing complex and parked next to a 2006 Acura CSX.  Now I fit right in here!

Woke up to this temp in Montana!

Beautiful day, though.  Here, Jason was getting his stuff packed into the Mazda.

Fist-bump to start the day!

Beautiful sky on I-15 northbound. They call Montana “Big Sky Country” for a reason.

More technical part of the interstate.

Many gas stations in Montana are attached to casinos like this Lucky Lil’s.

Jason and I decided to do a “sound test” and check the decibels of each of our cars at 80 miles per hour.  Somehow, my high-revving ILX was still quieter than his Mazda by about 10 dB.

Approaching Canadian customs!

Then this automated text message came through.  $2.05 per megabyte for int’l data?!

Welcome to Alberta!

Same pic, but with the coupe 10 years ago.

Headed toward Calgary.

Gas at Esso in Claresholm, AB

Those prices look amazing until you realize they’re in liters… and Canadian dollars!

Gas log just got a lot more complicated with that last entry.

Welcome to Calgary

“Bread Bar” at Pacini restaurant in Calgary

More rain heading north

Fueling up behind an Acura TSX in Edmonton

What a polite gas station!  Free air freshener if you aren’t satisfied with the washroom cleanliness!

Acura Civ… er, CSX!   This was a Canadian-only model.

Tomorrow we enter the ACTUAL Alaska Highway!  Come back for more!

Odometer:  164,132

Day Distance:  435 Miles

Trip Distance:  435 Miles

And I’m off!  I’m debating about how most effectively to share my trip with my readers without overdoing it.  For those who subscribe via email, I apologize in advance, because I think I’m going to post once per day, in the evening, with something – even if it’s short and sweet – just to let you all know where I am, the cumulative trip distance, and one or two noteworthy things I saw that day.  I’m already getting “pinged” by multiple people for updates so it’ll be easier to just post as I go versus waiting for a gigantic blog download when I get home.  Thirty of my friends have access to my to-the-minute location via the iPhone “Find My Friends” app.  Stalkers!

Today’s drive was a repeat of one that I’ve taken (and shared) many times before, from Phoenix Arizona to southwestern Utah, so I didn’t make any efforts to document it.  Rather, I settled into my “pace” and mentally prepared myself to spend the next couple of weeks watching the miles go by and seeing what the countryside has to offer.  I stopped only once on the way here tonight, in Kingman to check work emails before activating the almighty “Out-Of-Office” reply.  I also grabbed a banana at the Mobil gas station.

Jason has just now arrived, too, in his Mazda.  So tomorrow, we roll out in caravan and begin the long, long journey (that’s the title of a great Enya song, by the way) together to the land of the far north.

I picked up some Canadian cash just in case!

Passing Las Vegas – and staying away from the slot machines

Sunset along Interstate 15 northbound.  It was windy today and the air was full of dust.

Check out these snacks my dad and stepmom gave me for the drive!  Sugar rush!

Tomorrow (tentative):  9.5 hours drive time with a destination of Butte, Montana.

See you soon.