August 7-9 Valdez, AK to Haines Junction, Yukon We drove out of Valdez Thursday morning with heavy clouds all around, lots of rain & rather cold temperatures. Is AK becoming less fun?? We were heading to Tok once again. You may recall that we were in Tok several weeks earlier when we first arrived in AK & I had said that everyone who drives to AK visits Tok twice – once coming & once going! Well, now we’re going! Our drive along the road from Valdez was simply marvelous. The road took us through several deep canyon areas that featured spectacular mountain scenery with many waterfalls coming from the melting ice fields and along beautiful rivers & streams. At one point we could see 6 large waterfalls all in one scene! Most breathtaking! We arrived in Tok in the late afternoon where we stopped by the visitors’ center for some camping advice. Steve had hoped to get another hour of driving in so it was perfect to be directed to a small campground located next to a lake about 50 miles away. It was a dry camping area, operated by the Fish & Game Commission & there was no charge. Deals like that are helpful when traveling by RV! Heading out of Tok we were once again on the Alaska Hwy! How quickly we had forgotten – rough roads, lots of frost heaves, pot holes, hwy construction, etc.! At least we got part of it behind us the first day because Friday was going to be a full day of driving on the Alaska Hwy! We had a nice dinner in the camper that night & yes, it was still raining! Friday morning we began again along the Alaska Hwy heading to Haines Junction in the Yukon in Canada. We will be going in & out of Canada a few times before landing in the “Lower 48.” Friday’s drive became very interesting as Bennie was exhibiting very weird behavior. He kept gagging & coughing & would try to jump out of the closed window. We stopped many many times to walk him, but he continued the same for most of the day. Bennie’s behavior, the rough roads, & the bad weather did not make for a very pleasant journey, to say the least. At one point we stopped at a Visitors’ Center for the Kluane National Park & Reserve which we were driving through. We stopped at the VC mainly to give Bennie a break & us, too, as his behavior was rather unnerving. We were talking with a park ranger about the Dall sheep that we could see in the mountains & the ranger commented “Did your dog get a fox tail caught in his throat?” since Bennie was hacking & acting very skittish. I asked what she meant & she showed me what a wild fox tail looked like, which, of course, we have seen many many along our travels. She told us that dogs often eat them & they get caught in their throats & they act like porcupine quills. Yuk! Sometimes they have to be surgically removed if the dog can’t cough them up themselves, she said. Wow! Where is the nearest vet? Not near, we were told. Maybe Whitehorse in Canada or Juneau in AK. At that point we let Bennie eat as much good grass as we could find which in itself was not any easy task. The plan was to get him to throw up as much as possible with the hope of dislodging the nasty weed. Eventually we saw some results & he (and us, too!) was getting some relief. There was some additional hacking during the night & I got up early (5:30 am) to begin the grass eating regimen again. I tried to talk Steve into taking Bennie out early this morning by moaning about how afraid of bears I am, but unfortunately that scheme didn’t work too well! We’re hopeful that the problem is beginning to clear up as we are several days away from a vet unless we change our route & our time schedule.
Our visit through the Canadian border station went remarkably smooth this time. Steve pulled right up to the window & immediately announced that we have a dog & a shotgun! As Steve was handing the agent our passports & all the related paperwork for the dog & the shotgun, the agent said just keep them handy in case any patrolman asks to see them while in Canada. In other words, “Have a nice day!” During our drive yesterday in the Yukon we saw several bald eagles soaring overhead which is such a magnificent sight & Steve also spotted a large beautiful gray wolf crossing the road about 200 ft from our vehicle! We stopped our vehicle & watched as the wolf headed off into the brush but we didn’t have time to snap a picture. Oh, by the way, we did find sunshine & warmer temperatures as we approached Haines Junction where we spent last night. It’s a relief to know that summer is really not over in the direction we’re heading! We will drive about 150 miles today to Haines, AK where we will stay about 3 days before starting our ferry jaunt along the Alaska Marine Hwy. The ferry will take us through the Inner Passage, the same route that the cruise ships take but our lifestyle will be at quite a bit lower existence! We have plans to get on & off the ferry about 6 times to visit the towns along the way. Many of our days will be about 8 hrs on the ferry. Bennie will stay in the car on the ferry & there will be designated times to visit & walk pets. Should be an interesting experience. I hope we’ll have internet & phone service available when we depart the ferry each day, but if you don't see postings you'll know we're out of touch, which has been a problem for most of this trip.
