Fairbanks, AK

Sunday - Starting to get things straightened up and cleaned out. I got the Ural dug out of its corner of the garage. Topped up the tires, checked the oil, and it started right up (after I remembered the choke!).

Monday - Continuing the de-clutter process. Hauled multiple trash bags of stuff from the freezer, pantry, and the spice cabinet. Lots of stuff that’s been hanging around for way too long. 

I tossed out a bunch of clothes that no longer fit (too big!) and some that I haven’t worn for more than ten years. There is still so much stuff…

Tuesday - I noticed they sunset is once again after midnight with the nights getting shorter every day. 

Out of curiosity, I stopped by the normal Tuesday morning coffee place to see if people were still meeting. I had a great visit.

I also stopped at the university to pick up my free parking pass and Home Depot to order replacement springs for the garage door. After a brief shopping trip at Costco, I was back home. I missed the afternoon test session as it was a bit of a wait at Home Depot as only one person knew how to order replacement parts. 

Home (Fairbanks, AK)

Saturday - A long-ish travel day today at at 500miles. The weather was beautiful and the traffic was light. The last 100miles in Canada and the first 50miles in the US were the worst parts of the highway. Lots of frost heaves and potholes. A bit of gravel and some road construction.

We had a late lunch at Fast Eddy’s in Tok. It was delicious, as always. And, we stopped at the border to get the mandatory photo. 

The Jeep has been averaging 29mpg for the trip. Much better than I was expecting. We are pretty lightly loaded as we need open space in the back for the cat. The picture is just the road on the way to Delta.

We arrived back home a little after 5pm. A ten hour day. 

Haines Junction, YT

Friday - Today was a 370mile travel day ending in Haines Junction, YT. It was partially cloudy for most of the drive with some scattered showers. 

We had lunch at A&W in Whitehorse, and they had poutine. Which is fries with cheese curds and gravy. Pretty good and the first we’ve had on this trip.

We only spotted two black bear and a porcupine today but I thought I would mention that the highways have the brush cut way back to make it easier to spot wildlife headed for the road. It makes travel much safer. 

We are staying at a hostel in a wall tent with a nice wooden floor and propane heat. It’s pretty nice and, by far, the cheapest stay on this trip. Tomorrow will be a long-ish travel day at 500miles ending in Fairbanks. 

Watson Lake, YT

Thursday - We got an early start this morning as we knew it was going to be our longest travel day at 535 miles. Basically, the full length of the Cassiar Hwy plus some more at both ends. There aren’t many places to stay with a cat. It was a beautiful day with fantastic scenery and not a much traffic. We spotted four moose, a porcupine, and six black bear today. 

We got some gasoline at Bell II and it turned out to be enough to make it all the way up Watson Lake. With the slower speeds on the Cassiar, we are getting almost 30mpg on the Jeep. We stopped at Jade City just to stretch our legs a bit. At this point, we were only about 1½ hours to Watson Lake. 

Only a couple more days before we are back home…