Fort Nelson, BC to Valdez, Alaska

Saturday. June 25th, was a one night stay in Fort Nelson with about a ten hour day as our duties as Tail Gunners kicked in. We had a couple that just had a horrible day. Anything that could go wrong, did. We stayed with them a couple times, leaving them the last time as a tire company was coming with two new tires for them. Thankfully, they were only about 30 miles from camp by then. They came in about two hours after we did. Long day for both couples ! ! We did notice that when we have gone through small towns, it reminds us of traveling through El Paso, Texas. You have to get on a frontage road to access any of the businesses, then find another road out to the highway. Very interesting concept.

Seems like every driving day we get into a five to ten minutes torrential downpour. Today was no exception, however, this time there was hail. Looked like it had snowed for just a minute and then it was gone. We were at 3,000 ft when it hailed.

We saw two black bears today. YEA

Today is Sunday, June 26^th and we had about a five hour drive to Liard Hot Springs. Boy oh boy, the wildlife viewing today was the best yet ! ! The best and funniest, only because Ken is safe, was driving through another rain storm and the driver side windshield wiper goes flying off. Ken had just seen a black bear and by the time I looked it had run back into the forest. Ken stopped just past there and instead of waiting for the rain to pass, he being a guy, got out his tools and the new wiper and fixes it. He had to get out his drill and all kinds of stuff. He gets soaking wet and then asks for his coat... Men ! ! Because he had just seen the black bear, I spend the whole time watching out the window to make sure he doesn't become dinner. He gets done, puts everything away, and then comes in and changes. We get back on the road and Ken looks over at the side again and there sits a grizzly ! ! OMG, we never noticed it while he was out working, just watched straight out for the black bear... LOL Sure happy it all turned out OK... 

We also saw a herd of about seven goats behind a cement block, a Stone sheep standing in the road licking it, a couple groups of bison, an adult moose munching on the grass on the side of the road and then the saddest was a baby moose that got scared by the traffic. Started out on the side of the road but a car went buzzing by and so it turned and ran to the grass and then ran and ran and ran. It's tongue was hanging out it was so tired and still running. Wonder how far they can be from momma and still find them again?? We also saw several field of horses and realized that this is prime hunting lodge country. Even a little airstrip to one lodge.

Muddy waters in the rivers for a while and then back to the rock flour turning them turquoise again. Beautiful !

Absolutely no services of any kind here in Liard area. No one has any, no matter what company. Probably be better in Whitehorse.  However, on the way were these wonderful cinnamon rolls..  $10.00 US or Canadian.  The owner sure knew how to make a fast couple dollars... !

Stayed in Watson Lake right next to the Sign Post Forest. Very interesting place, over 75,000 signs from all over the world. We added a Bennett sign and helped with the Fantasy RV Tour sign too. Fun place.

On the way to Whitehorse and hardly any animals today. First sight of animals that have been hit and killed on the highway, a porcupine and a moose. Winter and road construction are the seasons here and today we really hit the construction, 15 minute wait. Not too bad. Boy, do they do things differently here. You drive right next to the construction and the equipment is sometimes right in your driving lane. No people standing around, no watching for safety. Very different.

Well, we are in Whitehorse and we still have no phone. It doesn't even give the correct date or time... Huuummm everyone else's is working just fine ! ! Oh my...

Took a city tour today and stopped at the Visitor Center. They are always a wealth of info. Got free parking passes so don't have to feed the meters on the street. Great idea!! Also, didn't know it but we got parked just in time to watch the beginning of the 18^th Annual Yukon River Quest. It is a canoe, kayak, and paddle board, three-day race to Dawson City, about 336 river miles. Everyone has the same amount of mandatory breaks and, I think, it is a $10,000 prize at the end for the winner. They had 94 entrants. Fun to watch ! !

After the city tour we drove back into town to have a late lunch at the Yukon BBQ and Salmon. Yummy good but a bit expensive, $65.00 Canadian. Oh well, we are on vacation ! !

Dawson City Airport entrance.

Today, Bison hamburger lunch at Muk-Tuk and then see how the sled dogs are trained and visit all the dogs... Another great event planned by Fantasy RV Tours. Amazing to see 135 quiet, calm, well feed dogs all together. The owners run a top notch place. You can really tell that they love their dogs.

Tomorrow is Canada Day, similar to our July 4^th, and the grocery store sure let us know. Shelves had big blanks and were very crowded but we got fresh blueberries at the same price as home.. yumm. Tents are going up in the park for the celebration as well as this is where the Yukon River Quest ends tomorrow. We hear that all stores will be closed but the park and vendors will be really busy.

Poured rain after we got back to the RV park and was still raining when we had our Traveler's Meeting but bright sunshine when we got done with the meeting! ! ! YEA ! ! !

We are heading to Dawson City early in the morning. It will be a long travel day. We are fixing pulled pork sandwiches for all the guests tomorrow. Yummy ! !

Pulled pork sandwiches were really great to have after the long drive to Dawson. No wildlife seen today on our drive. Darn... Dawson City is a really cute, little, historic town that was the center of the Yukon during the gold rush. You can see all the history right here. The only paved street is the most outer street of the city, the rest are dirt. Most of the buildings have been restored. We did a walking tour with a guide. That was very interesting.  Today was the end of the River Quest and all were coming into Dawson City as well as their was a gold panning contest and Saturday Market going on. Fun little place to visit. It is also amazing to see how all the annual flowers are blooming away. Then you realize that they get about 20 hours of sunlight a day. That must be the reason since there is only a 3-4 month period of “summer”. They still say only two seasons here, winter and construction ! ! LOL

 The Downtown Hotel is where you buy a drink with a real human toe in it.  The toe has to actually touch your lips and then you can buy a certificate that authenticates that you are a real "SourToe" as opposed to a SourDough.  That is a person who lives out a full winter in Dawson City.  What they dream up when they have 24 hours of darkness ! !   LOL

I don't think that I have mentioned that this is the land of the midnight sun ! ! I have not yet seen it dark. It is after 11:00pm right now and bright as it has been all day. Some nights I am up at 1:00, 3:00 or 5:00am and still light only. People are out walking now. So very different than home!!

Today, Sunday, July 3^rd is a free day so we went back to Dawson City, just a couple miles away. Walked the city streets and then went to the city museum. Very interesting. Watched a gold rush film that showed the masses of people trekking over the mountains in single file lines. Absolutely amazing. These are huge mountains and they walked. Also, there was really only one year of shoulder to shoulder people in Dawson City. Very few actually made money finding gold. Also, no guns were allowed and there were no robberies and no murders. Something to think about. One of the reason is that there was no easy way out of town. We also drove the five mile road up Dome Mountain. The views were spectacular !

Tonight is our Traveler's Meeting as it is our last night here. Tomorrow is our anniversary and we will be in Chicken, Alaska! ! YEA! Happy to be back in the states. We will have 20 rigs to get across the Yukon River on the ferry which only holds about two of our sized rigs and a couple cars. Everyone must drive their RV separate from their towed cars. Gonna be a loooong day but short mileage ! We hear that the border does not open til 9:00am but we want to get all our rigs across so that we don't have to compete with the Alaska traffic that comes over to Canada. Hopefully, the ferry will run quicker.

Oh boy, the ferry ride was nothing and about half of our group went over the river and dry camped last night. The “fun” was the Top of The World Highway... what better way to spend our anniversary ! ! You really feel like you are on top of the world looking out at all the mountains and valleys. Out of about 107 miles, only about five miles were really paved and that was just getting into Alaska from Canada. Some chip seal but mostly dirt and today mud as it was the first rain in about a month. I tried my sun dances but something happened, however, by BBQ time, all was sunny. A fun fact as told by the owner of the RV Park is that this is really an arid area, getting only about 11 inches of rain. It is because of the extreme cold, up to minus 80, that makes life here hard, as well as the permafrost. Evergreen trees are so tall and strange looking as they are so skinny ! !  This is the security check point for Alaska from Canada and then to the Top of the World Highway. 

Chicken, Alaska with a hamburger and hotdog bbq for the 4th of July.

All our phones and electronics starting going crazy just out of Tok, Alaska.  Our Wagon Master told us that would happen and just as he said, it did.  Amazing.  My phone had incorrect date and time showing by the time we got to Tok as well as nothing else worked.  Miraculously, all was well in Tok and everything adjusted correctly. 

Tour bus took us to this canyon near Tok..

Not much wildlife the last couple of driving days.  However, today on the way to Valdez we saw a huge moose.  The RV in front of us scared it and so it was running down the edge of the road.  Oh my, he was big ! !  Into Valdez for three days.