Road Trip Day 2: Hello Yukon . . .

With a lot of detours in between!  So we have officially detoured off the ALCAN for a few days.  It is nice to be able to do that for a couple of reasons . . . not as much traffic or constant RVs/Campers . . .  the views are amazing . . . the possibility of seeing wildlife . . . and why not?  So we were up and on the road by 5:30am; like in the car pulling back onto the highway . . . mainly because it is hot right now and there is no air conditioning in these small hotels which is fine but makes it hard to sleep when you are spoiled Texas girl that has air conditioning . . . and for the fact it is only sort of dark for less than 5 hours right now and no curtains to block the constant sunlight.  Heck, who needs sleep with views like this?

The best part was there was no one else on the road . . . just miles and miles of beautiful countryside and my eyes are so focused on seeing wildlife.  One of the main reasons we detoured from the ALCAN onto the Taylor Highway (Route 5) was to make a stop in Chicken, Alaska.  There is absolutely nothing there; so why not?  It is still an active gold rush seeker town but that is about all . . . well there is this . . .

 . . . and to add some humor early in the morning . . .

. . . if only I had the music for The Chicken Dance!  We had a delicious cinnamon roll scone for breakfast; like lick the icing off your fingers good.  No matter where you are or what you are doing there is always someone around to start a conversation.  Of course it all revolves around driving the ALCAN and road conditions and where you going or where you coming from.  There are some really friendly folks out there in America so far.  All good things must end so back on the road.  A nice man told us the next 40 miles were pretty rough so to go slow . . . he wasn't joking.  Just as we started to leave the town we saw a huge, RV bus (you know one of those super expensive ones that look like rock star touring buses) that had slid of the edge of the road; like was laying down an embankment so far that I have no clue how they would get it back on the road . . . I can not imagine the tears shed over this especially on vacation.  The road was rough but thankfully not crowded.  Once we left the ALCAN yesterday the nice paved roads were no more . . .

. . . but again it was so worth the detour.  They were not as bad as I had expected but the average speed was about 30-40 mph if you were lucky.  The worst part of the drive was on the Top of the World Highway (or was it the Fortymile River Region my notes are confusing)  . . . it was about 40 miles and took 2 hours 10 minutes to drive!  But again . . .

. . . much to our surprise they had started paving the road so that was super nice while it lasted!  We were happy to arrive at the Canadian Border for a quick passport check . . .

  . . . it surprised me that there wasn't some big Canadian flag flying . . . maybe I just wanted a nice photo op?  We sort of had a sense or urgency to drive on . . . mainly because the only way we could continue on our journey was to cross the Yukon River by ferry.  You never know how long it will take, or how many vehicles are in line, and the ferry does not hold that many vehicles.  Luck must have been on our side because as we approached . . .

. . . the ferry was just starting to load and we were the last car on . . .

Sadly, you could not get out of the car but riding on the ferry across the Yukon River was pretty cool!

We crossed in record time (I think less than 15 minutes total) and that really did help with the long drive still ahead for the afternoon.  Once we exited the ferry, we were in Dawson City, Yukon.  We found a quick cafe for lunch and set out exploring the town on foot.  It is really nice to get out of the car but the weather is much warmer (upper 80s) than I anticipated so I am certain that I complained from time to time.  First stop was the Dawson City Museum where we learned about the history of the area with a lot of focus on the Gold Rush . . . it amazed me that such a booming town could be nothing but old shuttered buildings in a matter of months.  Our walk continued with our final stop at the Jack London Cabin and Museum . . .

. . . it was super small and mainly just photos with captions.  This is where he lived during the Klondike Gold Rush while being a gold seeker.  A quick stroll along the Yukon River on the way back to the car . . .

. . . the water looks like a cloud is shading it but that is the colors of the river . . . it was odd.  It was time to hit the road again which I guess is good since we still had about 5 more hours to drive before our final stop of the night in Carmacks, Yukon.  We were in the car today from 5:30am until 7:25pm; it was painful and the only thing that kept me going was the possibility of seeing wildlife.  Today we saw 2 rabbits, 2 squirrels, and a prairie dog (or something similar) . . . I was NOT amused as these things could be seen in my own backyard.  We arrived safely in Carmacks to the only hotel in town.  There are no chain hotels along these routes we are traveling so you pretty much get what you get and sometimes there just aren't any words . . .

. . . sadly the cost is not as cheap as it should be . . . oh and it was h-o-t in this room . . . and too gross to even comment . . . so much so that I did not even take photos . . . all I kept telling myself is it has to get better; it HAS to get better tomorrow.

Miles traveled today:  412 miles
Total trip miles:  622 miles