This time I was travelling with 3 cats who were confined to the back end of the Yukon. This would prevent them from escaping while on route to Alaska.
I left Utah late afternoon and made it to Hamer, Idaho…just south of the Montana border. I slept (barely) in the back seat and was up at 4:30 to hit the road. Cats mildly sedated with an ear rub to avoid car sickness, and I’m off for a full day of driving. Google maps immediately sends me back driving towards Utah! Not once, but twice!! …and I fell for it…twice! Gah!
Thinking back to the trip with Elmer I did NOT want to wait at the border for endless hours, and google maps said there were delays at Sweetgrass, so I took a route that would hopefully save me all the wait time. It trekked through Blackfoot Indian Reservation- what could go wrong? a single white woman travelling alone thru indian territory…didn’t I see a movie like this? lol
Well, it did it save me hours of waiting at that border only to make me wait through miles of zig zaggy switchback road construction. And then finally the road opened up and all of a sudden I was the only one on the road and whizzing through the border at Del Bonita, barely even a look at the vaccination papers for the cats. Then I am in Canada and it is an open stretch of seemingly endless road and little towns, then bigger cities until suddenly I am lost in Edmonton! And to make it worse I am in an area of town that is mainly oriental speaking, the streets are not clearly marked and I am completely going in circles. I called AK man who set me straight after I was able to give him some info as to the nearest highway. I remember Elmer saying something about this stretch of road and how to avoid it…guess I didn’t pay attention. I was lost for a few hours. By the time I was on the highway again it was getting dark. I ended up parking at a roadside rest area @ 11 something and was back up and on the road at 5.
I drove hard and as fast as I thought I could get away with. I stopped at nothing, only for gas. And finally…
and almost immediately begin seeing bison, later on bear.
The wild life was unreal. A mountain lion crossed the road right in front of me. A brown bear and black bear were fighting. There was much road construction on the Alcan, and the day was getting late. I needed a bathroom break and a fill up on gas when I pulled into Muncho Lake. And lucky I did, the guy inside said I was the last one to get gas on the Alcan. It was 9pm and everyone shut down at 9. Holy Schmolies, did NOT know that!
After filling up, and a fresh cup o tea, I was back on the road. 9 pm isn’t even close to dark up in the norther territories. I was passing A LOT of bears, browns AND blacks. There was even a camper by the side of the road with metal stairs leading up to the door of the camper…and a bear was headed right their way!
It got dark earlier that night because of a rain storm…lightning seemed to light imaginary bears and I just kept driving hoping to escape bear country. I was feelin like a pork chop with plenty of munchies. I pulled over at a small rest spot after midnight and sat in the front seat for a long time before feeling safe enough to get out and crawl into the back seat. Even so, I made sure I could crawl into the front seat should a bear emergency occur…lol
Turns out that was the last time I would see lightning. Alaska doesn’t get it; not enough warm air masses to collide with the cooler air. Way up north they do get lightning, but waaaay up north. Anywho at the 1st crack of greyish light, I was up and on my way to the Alaskan Border
And Yessssss, Alaska I am in you forever. I am finally home. Can’t believe it has taken me 60 something years to get here. But even as I am in Alaska, it is still an 8-9 hour stretch til I reach my destination.at the house where we will be staying through the winter. Another 8-9 hours and that’s not even end to end Alaska. One could spend a lifetime and never see all of Alaska, just as people spend a lifetime in the lower 48 and nearly 1 in 6 has not ventured outside their own state.
I’m only half over in this life, and I may have even longer than that, now that I made it here. Stick around and see what adventures I seek out.
Blessings,
Cindi ♥
ps. For the record drive started 4:30 on June 2 and I arrived in Alaska June 5! I drove hard and fast.