B & D's USA Hideout: The Drive North

Day 1: Said goodbye to Irrigon and moved the trailer all the way up to the northwest corner of Washington state. We camped at Birch Bay State Park near the Canada border crossing. We took a day to get organized, clean, get rid of things we didn't need and, of course, stock up at REI. We are so ready for this trip.

Day 2: No problems crossing the Canada border into British Columbia. Planned to drive almost straight through to Alaska with a ~500 mile goal each day. We hit some traffic around Vancouver but we did drive through the ski town of Whistler, which was cool to see. We'd love to ski there someday. To stretch the legs, we did a short hike in the area to see Nairn Falls and the pretty Green River. All of route 99 was long and windy and slow going but absolutely gorgeous scenery. The road stretched around some deep valleys and high above them. Got on 97 N and covered some good miles but called it a night when we saw a Walmart in Quesnel, BC. Most of the parking lot was filled with other weary travelers in campers.

Day 3: Started early and picked up Route 16 W in Prince George. 97 and 16 were much smoother and faster highways than 99. We were able to cover a lot more ground today. Made it all the way to the last leg of highway, route 37, before we reach the Alaska highway. 37 was beautiful and remote and like a welcome parade, 12 black bears along the roadside came out to greet us. We also saw a moose jaunt down the road alongside us. We slept in a pull off/rest stop for the night. Though there are many Provincial Parks we'd love to visit, we are saving our time to visit BC for the fall. Right now we are trying to get the most time in Alaska.

Day 4: Woke up tired but trucked on into the Yukon border where we found the Alaska Highway. We stopped for fuel and an early lunch at a cafe called "Wolf it Down" and enjoyed their homemade soup and a bison burger. The days are noticeably longer now, which helped with our long days of driving. Brian and I both drive and mostly in shifts. I had our small cooler packed with snacks and kept our water and coffee cups filled. We also kept a blanket and pillow so the passenger/co-pilot could catch a little shut eye. I also had crosswords, coloring books and magazines to browse through and our laptop and hard drive full of movies to watch. You'd never know we didn't have kids! We rode the Alaska highway all the way to Haines Junction and stopped for a minute to check it out and get some bread from the Village Bakery we'd heard about. We cooked dinner at a pull off and then pushed on a little further until we found a place that allowed overnight camping. Fortunately it was alongside Kluane Lake, which as apart of Canada's Kluane National Park. Stunning and peaceful. We went for a short walk and did some evening yoga by the lakeside and then hit the pillow hard.

Day 5: Today is the day! The Alaska highway is riddled with frost heaves, big ones. But we made it and crossed back into the good ole U.S. of A. and the Last Frontier with no issues at the border. It was still a ways to our destination for the day but we arrived in Tok in the afternoon. Once we secured the campsite for the night we went over to Fast Eddy's for a late lunch and a cold Alaskan beer (Pilot Series - Blackberry Wheat, so yummy!). We also bought our fishing licenses and bear spray, groceries and a frisbee for fun. We're only staying the night. No rest for the wicked, we're pushing on tomorrow.