Dease Lake, Whitehorse, Tok, and on to Fairbanks

I know I haven't written in a while. I meant to write every day while on the way to Alaska, but the day after my last post I went to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, and went out with a random guy that night, instead.

It was one of the longest days of my trip. I drove 410 miles from Dease Lake, British Columbia, to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. I started the trip that morning, and took only one quick break for lunch, at the end of the Cassiar Highway, where it joins with the Alaska Highway. Then I continued my drive to Whitehorse, which my GPS called "Whiteho", and which made me laugh every time I heard it.

I had made a reservation at the super-luxurious Canada's Best Value Inn in Whitehorse (just kidding), and pulled into the hotel to check in, when a guy on a motorcycle pulled up just behind me. Turns out, he'd stayed at the same hotel as I had in Dease Lake, and drove behind my jeep pretty much all day to Whitehorse. When I pulled into the hotel, he figured I "knew what I was doing", and so he followed me there to see if they had a room for him, as well. They did. Then he asked me to join him dinner that night.

We went to a local pub for dinner, and had a fun conversation. He's a marine engineer, and he works on oil rigs. It sounds like a tough job -- 25 days on, then 25 days off. The shifts are either 6-12 or 12-6. So, if he works 6-12, let's say, then he works that shift both in the AM and in the PM, every single day, for the full 25 days, without a day or shift off during that time. But then he gets 25 days off, which is why he was taking his motorcycle up through Canada. After dinner, and a couple of beers, we walked back to our hotel via a touristy sort of walk. It was a nice walk, and it was fun talking with another traveler after so many days by myself.

The next day, I got up early to leave Whiteho for Tok, and saw my dinner companion from the evening before in the parking lot, hanging out with the other motorcyclists. The two other guys are brothers-in-law; one lives in Austin, TX, and the other lives in Maine. They met up in North Dakota, I believe, and then drove up together. Anyway, they were funny guys. They have a system: they drive to a city, get a hotel reservation, and then hit the local bars, which they pretty much shut down every single night. They said they've had tons of adventures, met lots of locals, and really started to get to know a place that way. Which (because I'm an expert at comparing myself to others) made me feel unadventurous and a bit lame.

It took me a few days to realize that my journey is not just for a physical adventure, but a spiritual one, as well -- and that going to local bars every night wouldn't have added to my quest all that much. Instead, I've had time to sleep (which my body has desperately needed), read books (which have given me tremendous insight), write on my blog and in my journal (yes, some of this information is not for public viewing), and look around town a little bit. And that I don't really feel like I've been missing anything by NOT going out every night. And that those two guys might not be doing some of the heavy mental lifting that I've been doing, which is okay for them, and okay for me, too.

Anyway, after departing from my marine engineer, the Austinite, and the Mainer, I started to leave Whitehorse. I was quickly stopped, however, by the sight of Starbucks, rising like a mirage out of the desert (although it was in downtown Whitehorse). So I stopped in and had a Chai, and it was like mother's milk, it was so delicious. I also stopped at a bookstore next door and picked up another audiobook (The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown) to keep me occupied for the drive. It was only about 8:15 in the morning, so I was surprised the bookstore was already open, but the salesman said that the shop is open from 8am until midnight during the summer hours.

That day was my longest, and far away most boring drive of the entire trip. It was 450 miles from Whitehorse to Tok, Alaska, and I had to pass through border patrol in the meantime. But my big mistake was not driving so far, as much as it was that I didn't stop for lunch. So I drove pretty much nonstop, with only little breaks for gas and the restroom. By the time I got to the US border in Port Alcan, I was already tired, even though I was so excited I'd finally made it to Alaska! Unfortunately, I still had 185 miles to drive before I made it to Tok, where I was to stop for the night, and the last 2 hours or so was a bear. But I finally made it to Tok, where I was to stop for the night.

Tok is a weird place. On the one hand, it's the first town in Alaska, and so there are hotels and quite a few shops and restaurants there. It's also a place where lots of tour buses pass through and stop to let the tourists off to shop and eat and rest overnight. On the other hand, it's a town of only about 1400 people, and it's pretty rustic overall, with gravel roads and tundra instead of grass on the ground. But my hotel was comfy, and I slept well (I went to bed at 8:30 pm, which is much earlier than any other night on my trip so far -- especially considering it's bright and sunny at that time of night in Alaska).

The next morning, July 13, I got on the road around 8 or so, and finally, after 7 1/2 days of driving, I made it to Fairbanks! I met up with my friend Caroline, and we went for sushi for lunch. She then took me to her farm, which she didn't have when I last visited. I met her two new horses (she'd already had Miguel, but Lena and Franzi are new), saw the farm, and drove the four-wheeler for a while, which was super-fun. Then we finally went back to her house that night, and I met up with her dogs, Homer and Nali, her rabbit Buns, and her guinea pig Chewy.

The first week in Fairbanks was relatively slow, actually, which was totally fine by me. Caroline worked the daytime shift (7am-5pm) on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and so I slept, shopped for groceries, and cooked dinner for when she arrived home in the evenings. Then we went to a party on Saturday, and she worked again on Sunday. So it was a quiet week. But I had time to rest, watch some tv, and try to sleep in the midnight sunlight of the Alaska summertime.