Entering the USA
The US Canadian Border Patrol Station
2 Eggs!
Ann was up & ready early this morning as we were now going “Home!” Little did I know that the trip was not to be everything I dreamed of! At the end of the main street in
Dawson City we cued up with our BF to get on a little ferry that would take us across the
Yukon River. An interesting fact is that there is only 1 bridge across the
Yukon & we had crossed that long before we arrived in
Dawson City. This ferry is free & it holds about 5 cars & 2-3 RVs or trailers & a few motorcycles & bikes.
We waited about 45 min to get on the ferry which took us to the other side in only about 6 minutes. Once off loaded we
headed uphill on a dirt road & continued our trip west to
Alaska on the Top of the World Hwy. 85 miles of shear terror & beauty! The Top of the
World Hwy winds around timberline for many miles. There were sharp curves & steep dropoffs all along this unmaintained highway. It is a narrow road with no center lines & no guardrails at all, but YES! there were little red flags stuck in buckets along the edge of the road to indicate “Danger!” It was an exciting trip & Steve handled the BF masterfully & never got weary. It took us about 5 hrs to complete the Top of the
World Hwy & eventually we arrived in the infamous town of
Chicken, AK. At some point along the top of the mountain we arrived in the
USA! It was marvelous! I was so happy. We had to wait quite awhile before being beckoned forward at the checkpoint but once we got to the Point we sailed through with flying colors. Yes, we did have our passports & the border agent asked us to remove our sunglasses! Maybe he wanted to make sure we looked as good as our old passport pictures! (Now that's an oxymoron!) That was it & then we were on our way around & down the mountain. Chicken has a population of 34 in the summer & 4 in the winter. The Top of the
World Hwy closes in winter & therefore, no tourists! Once in Chicken we pulled into 1 of the 4 business establishments & we had lunch. I knew Steve was exhausted from the drive & to our amazement the soup & sandwich we ordered was truly delicious & not at all of the ordinary. It was the perfect touch after our harrowing trip on the Top of the World! In better terms – It hit the spot!!!
From Chicken we kept on going for another hour or so & arrived in Tok, AK. A very cute town & apparently it is a place that ALL motor visitors to AK must travel through twice – once coming in & once going out! We checked things out at the Visitors’ Center & then decided that there would be no need to stay in Tok more than 1 night. My favorite fact about Tok is how Tok got it’s name. Tok is located at a junction at the northern end of the Alaska Hwy & at the Tok Cutoff which we had taken from Chicken. When the Alaska Hwy was built the engineers had to give the junction where the highways came together a name. The men who were building the hwy had 2 loved pets – a black bear cub, named Dynamite, & a husky pup, named Tok. After much debate within the company they decided to name the junction after the husky! The pictures of these much loved pets are now in the Tok Visitors’ Center!
Speaking of bears, we had the most delightful & exciting moment during our decent from the Top of the World Hwy! A mother black bear suddenly lumbered across the road ahead of us & moments later 3 cubs followed her across the road. The 3rd cub in line became frightened & turned back to the woods on the right side of the road. Steve just kept the vehicle stopped & still for a few minutes & to our delight the little cub came running out & crossed the road very quickly to catch up to his mom & siblings! It was spectacular & the cubs were so small & so adorable that we didn’t want to frighten them. Steve simply stopped the BF & we observed the delight of the babies following their mum! The cubs were a light brown color as compared to the black of the mother. I inquired at the Visitors’ Center & they told us that around here many of them are a cinnamon color. Some stay that color & others become blacker. We had learned previously that along our journey that most black bears & grizzly bears only have 1 cub & occasionally 2 cubs so it was our delight to actually see a mother black bear with 3 cubs in tow. They stay with their mothers for 2 years & then she sends them out on their own & most likely has another litter. Previously we had seen a youngster black bear that we thought had been “sent off” by mom & he/she seemed clearly clueless! All the bears are SO-O-O CUTE!
As we were driving into Tok I suddenly spotted lots of wirey towers ahead & I abruptly shouted “cell towers!” To our delight our cell phones had service & we were once again in “touch.” Wow! was I busy calling family & friends! We stayed in a campground in Tok for the night. It was so nice compared to many of the private campgrounds we have had in Canada along the Alaska Hwy. I was relieved & so happy to be in America! The campground even offered a little guitar/banjo musical entertainment & free ice cream cones that night. We enjoyed & rejoiced!
July 6 we gathered ourselves together & continued our heading north toward Fairbanks. At Delta Junction, & about 100 mi out of Tok, we saluted the end of the Alaska Hwy. We both had been delighted & honored to have had the fabulous opportunity to have traveled the Alaska Hwy from end to end, but we were also ready to bid it farewell & to return to reality! We enjoyed a buffalo burger for lunch in Delta Junction & then continued our drive to Fairbanks. However, along the route we ran right into Eielson Air Force Base. I was so happy to come across a commissary & a PX. It was late Sunday afternoon & so I had to hustle to gather all the deals before the shops closed. After accomplishing those tasks we drove around the air base to find the Family Camping area. That is where we are staying the night. A lovely campground with lots of available spaces & lots of trees & it is located by Bear Lake. A toast to America was in order this night! Maybe tomorrow we’ll make it to Fairbanks….
