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Final gorgeous day on the “trail” and our entrance back to the USA.  Great trek around Desolation Bay.

Wildlife Factor:  About 10 mountain goats on a roadside rocky crag.
Adventure Factor:  Over the top

This particular jaunt was insane.  Disneyland?  Save your money.   Head to the Alcan and experience the “Frost Heave” Coaster.

Warning - Frost Heaves!

Between ice compression and expansion married with earthquakes and other crazy earth core movements, the little babies will have you liftoff, hands up, ridin dirty for miles on end.   Completely worth the price of admission. Pack your Dramamine.

We got to the US border by mid afternoon.  To  my dismay, there was no elaborate “Welcome to Alaska” sign for me to take a touristy photo by, one adorned with thick wood, growling embossed bears, eagles, caribou.  No arch, gateway or symbolic entry.   Just the standard Green road sign.   Ah well.

Border Patrol, in a characteristic form, asked a variety of questions.  To which I always answer the way I should.   But not the way I’d like, of course.

where are you from? the armpit of the Midwest
what do you do? I hunt Border Patrol
what do you do when you’re not doing that?   What do YOU do when your not jacking off in that little booth for 12 hours a day?
why are you in Alaska? To meet my idol, Sarah Palin
what will you be doing in the Park? Finding myself
how long will you stay?  As long as it takes

So on and so forth.

We hit Fairbanks around 6.   Ahhh, the city.    We hit Freddie’s for supplies for the week, since there is nothing else near the Park to get provisions.  That’s right 2 hours to the nearest grocery store means strategic food and beer planning.  Snagged dinner at LemonGrass – a fantastic Thai restaurant and then back into Swift for the Home Stretch
It was quick and before you know it, we had arrived.   Denali is like a ghost town for a few more weeks until open season 5/15.  All the shops, hotels, resti’s are boarded up.  Weird to see it look so….abandoned.    Seasonal town life. We’re two of the first few to arrive in C Camp for the summer which is not too dissimiliar from college sans food plan… all is quiet.

A walk around.  Fresh, fresh air.  Zero traffic. Rustic cabins. Only the sound of the final winter snow melting off into little rivers thru the gravel.  Phase 5. Welcome home to us.

On Wednesday (Happy Earth Day!) we made it from Cache Creek to Sasquatch X’ing, somewhere between Sikanni Chief and Pink Mountain in B.C.

Now in Swift on the open road, it’s that corpuscular time of evening.   22 just threw that 95-point, triple letter score word out at me.  I thought he may have been talking about the undead, but he explained that it is the best time for wildlife viewing because they’re coming out to feed.  And so that I should really stop typing and pay attention.  I pop another Swedish fish and press on the keyboard.   Can’t stop it when inspiration strikes. (holy WHA – a ginormous bald eagle just soared over our ride)

We just shimmied thru the Land of Dams and Dinosaurs – hardly able to contain myself, I jumped out of the car for a ride on Dino.  22, unamused, puts me back in Swift.

It’s 80 miles to the Alaskan Alcan Highway.

We needed to capitalize and get ample soak time as we wouldn’t get to stay two nights as planned. Steady driving today, making a big, big push to the borderline of BC and Yukon Territory. A stop in Prince George for lunch.  Then I took the wheel so 22 could catch some zzzz’s.   He woke up to me driving 145 km/hr.   That was the end of that.   He made me pull over and he jumped back behind the wheel.   So much for getting anywhere in decent time.

We did hit some big snowy passes on the way up.

Wildlife Factor:   About 10 big horn sheep.  7 or 8 white butt caribou and a handle of buffalo grazing on the road.

Thursday we pushed from Pink to Liard – the moment we’ve been waiting for – HOT SPRINGS!   Some sketchy, snowy patches on the road to start out, but then sun came and we chased it.  Stopped for provisions in Fort Nelson. Got in around 7:30 and it was fully bright and sunny, very much day yet.  Blue bird skies.   Should be gobzillions of stars and maybe some northern lights.  Fingers X’d.  We got our suits and headed down the 800 ft or so boardwalk to the springs.   I had no idea what to expect and it far exceeded my wildest dreams.  If you ever find yourself in northern B.C., make it a priority.  It was huge – two BIG pools, perfectly heated.   And HOT as Hannah right near the source.   About 3.5 ft deep all the way around.   Great natural rock bottom, benches spurratically to lounge on.   After a couple hours, we set up camp in a dug out snow site.  Grabbed a bite at the restaurant.   Had a game of Scrabble in the tent and went back for another dip.  The Kanucks were restless and raising hell in the pools with some other folks traveling north to AK for the summer.   It the pitch black we relished the steam and laughed at them.  The heat stayed on top, cooler underneath. We sawed logs and didn’t rise until almost 11.   In true form, we took the boardwalk again to the pools for a solar powered sulfur hour.  Kudos to those who got close enough to the source to put a rock on the pile.   22 braved it on our 3rd soak!  I’m surprised he wasn’t scalded quite honestly.
Threw together some brekkie, jumped in Swift and hit the road.

Finally! 2500-mile journey ahead. That’s, like, from Oregon back home to Michigan. I’m ready to be done packing, organizing, cleaning. Ready to get on this adventure with an open mind and support 22 thru his work season.

The 4Runner “Swift” is packed to the gills. (Thanks Bubs for sacrificing the cooler and food so that you could fit my tub of shoes!) As a woman, the only frivolous variety I need on this voyage to keep me whole. He took it for the team – we may starve the first week but my feet will be cozy AND stylish. Put Subie in the garage. Kissed Spanx and Opus goodbye. Slapped Brother on the arse. AK or BUST!

Met with Tster in Seattle at Agua Verde on the docks for some delicious tacos before fully commencing.

Distance: Ptown to Cache Creek, B. C. today – 500 mile day.

Rolled in to the Desert Budget Inn for a room, then over to the Wander Inn for some Canadian-style Chow Mein. A deuce of Heinekin later and we’re spent. The “24″ debauchery and 3.5 hrs of sleep the night before caught up to us.

I’m super grateful for the chance to kick back and relax, sinking into my newfound lack of responsibility. Deep breath in, mindful exhale. Roll the window down and feel the wind in my hair. Moving on, I develop and fine-tune my job description while on the road, which includes these titles.

1. Playlist Princess – Musical Mood Generator
2. #1 Shotgun and Navigator a.k.a Mapwench
3. Snack Retriever and Hydration Vixen

Prior to leaving, 22 downloaded some 3 million new artists to sample, cleaning his iTouch of all old tunes. Some interesting ear candy the 1st leg:
Scissor Sisters, Bishop Allen, new Tragically Hip – We Are Still the Same, Kid Rock, and a slew of other compilations given to us by Ex Neighbor

Wildlife Factor: Big Horn Sheep in B.C. mere inches off the road as we rounded a corner.

somewhere in BC