Alaska at Last-ka.

Well, about 6 days of driving and delays later, we finally made it to the last frontier. And let me tell you, those 6 days weren't the easiest.

For starters, our first camping night consisted of freezing cold temperatures, wherein which we had to relocate to the car. Now for any of you who have had to try to catch some z's sitting upright, you know the feeling of a crick-neck-meets-crusty-eyeballs, and, in my case, rickety rods and screws to boot.

One thing can be said, though, Canadians prove to be the best and most courteous drivers, not to mention all around individuals. They were more than willing to offer a hand to the Californian's who (sometimes) didn't have a clue at where they were going. When we first got past the border into British Columbia, Nick and I couldn't believe just how majestic (yes, majestic) the area was.

We made it past Prince George, through a rural land that consisted of abandoned log cabins, massive rivers, lots of green, and came to a road block just up past Dease Lake.

Now, Dease Lake has a population of about 400 (probably less, though), a gas station, cafe, and a highly priced, expired-goods grocery store. There was a fire that apparently had crossed the road near the border, and no one was allowed to drive through. So we were stuck in Dease Lake.

We found a campground nearby run by an old man named Chuck. Our site was situated right on the edge of the lake, and Nick found some Moose droppings that he wanted to use as a fire-starter. I told him no.

The next morning, I found out that they were letting people through the fire zone escorted by a pilot car. We drove up to a second road block, where we waited for about half an hour when the pilot car returned, and led a caravan of RV's, minivans, trucks, and a Versa named Roller Skate through the scorched lands and onto the Cassiar-Alaska Highway junction. Once there, the roads were terrible and the sun never went down. So it began.


Our next stop was Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory. We got in around 8pm, went to dinner (we split this Elk dish and fries that were to die for), and crawled into bed (thank you Canada's Best Value Inn). It's been dreadfully hard to fall asleep (we probably wouldn't sleep at all if it wasn't for exhaustion), simply because the sun keeps you awake.

Two hours before reaching the border, the road became not a road, but rather, a nightmare full of large washboard gravel sections, uneven pavement, and potholes. After our moods drastically changed in those two hours, we made it to Fairbanks. The mosquitoes were literally swarming. While we were there, we spent a whole day doing laundry, relaxing, watching The Mummy, eating KFC, and going to the hospital. Welcome to Alaska.
Today, the morning greeted us with a crispness in the air, as we crawled out of our 8x10 canvas tent at the Mountain Morning Hostel near the Denali National Park.

We saw some moose last night with little mooses, and are hoping to feed some grizzlies today (Nick's idea). We're trying to stay at places with free WiFi, so we can update more often (oops) - but tomorrow we're heading to Anchorage, and we're pretty excited to finally get to the coast.

Cheers,
Nick & Court