We still had a couple of things to take care of before really being on the road: The last load of laundry hadn't been done so Art went off to take care of that while Gillian finished packing and walking the dogs.
It was after eleven when the wheels finally began to turn but the tires all needed a little air, they were all just at the pressure recommended for the load but we like to run about 5 pounds over. Also one air valve extension was rubbing on the wheel cover and had almost ground through the valve. We had asked that it be changed at our last service, which had been done—but they had used the same length extension so the new valve was wearing as well!
There was a tire shop at the north end of town on Two Mile Hill so we pulled in there to get that attended to. First come first served, it would be about an hour. Art had been thinking of the excellent service we had had so he returned to Fireweed RV and the Freightliner shop to deliver a box of donuts from Tim Hortons. The mechanics had struggled with the torque wrench when replacing the wheels and the not so slim mechanic had joked that he needed a little more weight on it. When Art handed over the box of donuts he told them that it was weight for the torque wrench! While waiting for our turn at the tire shop we had lunch in the motorhome.
Back on the road to the Tempo station a few kilometers north where diesel fuel was 3 cents a litre cheaper than the competition and took on 178 litres and we were finally North bound a few minutes after 4:00 PM. Not exactly an early start!
We had not real plans as to how far we would go today--probably not far and the day was almost over before we started! The road was in poor condition for much of it; pot holes, frost heaves, construction, Trekker does not do well on bumpy roads, he gets quite stressed and sits panting at the front of the rig between us. At Haines Junction we pulled into a rest area for half an hour to let him settle a bit then carried on.
We enjoyed the scenery and put up with the bumps. We stopped at a tourist info place a bit further up the road to find it closed but used the break to take a pic of the rig.
The other photo is of Kluane Lake, the Yukon's largest.
Burwash Landing
Shortly after 6:00 PM we decided we had done enough for today and pulled into Burwash Landing Lodge and RV Park. We found a site where we backed in by the lake--Trekker could have his swim! Art also spotted a good fixer-upper boat right behind the motorhome on the shore of Kluane Lake!
Here we discovered just how rough parts of the road had been. We had neglected to replace the bungee cord on the bedroom TV!
There was wireless available but only in the lobby so we did a bit of e-mailing and weather checking but delayed the blog for another time. (Which turned out to be Valdez, Alaska!)
In the morning we stopped off at the Burwash Landing Museum where a little dog was very excited about a ground squirrel under the wooden walkway!. It was funny to watch and the persistent little fellow was still trying for it when we left the museum. Probably kept busy all day!
The museum has a world class natural history display as well as nice gift shop. Burwash was evacuated in June 1999 when a forest fire raged past covering some 15 kilometers in a day. The wind shifted at the last minutes and the town was spared.
Leaving the museum we proceeded north west planning in stopping in Tok (pronounced "toke"), Alaska. The map shows the area that we will be traveling through for probably the next week. On the map, the pen point is on Burwash Landing where we spent last night.The countryside continues much the same; broad flat wet valleys surrounded by mountains. Along the way we stopped at a bakery and creperie out in the middle of nowhere, run by a couple from Bordeaux, France. The 20 minute stop served as a rest for Trekker and a lunch break for us!
One of our concerns for this trip was the availability of good bread. So far we have not had to resort to the breadmaker, except early in the trip when we tested it on the way to Buttle Lake.
Alaska!
And a time zone change. We were now on Alaska Daylight Time. Although why Alaska need a Daylight Time is beyond me!
We stopped at the Canada US Border for a photo op, customs and immigration being a few miles further up the highway. If you look closely at the photo of the monument (click to enlarge) you will be able to see a swath cut in the brush in the background If you look very closely you will see that it continues on until it almost disappears at the top of the distant mountain. The next photo shows the view in the other direction: The clearing continues due north along the meridian as far as the trees last. To the south it follows the meridian again until the border shifts east and south. It is cleared all the way down the Alaska Panhandle to the border towns of Hyder and Stewart in the south.Tok
The road continued on in much the same condition and through much the same countryside. There was repair work going on in several sections and a couple of new bridges being built.
As we arrived in Tok we checked out one of the RV Parks and weren't overly impressed--not bad, just that we thought we could do better. Besides we needed fuel and wanted to take care of that before stopping for the night
rather than delay or interrupt our start in the morning. Right at the junction where we would be turning south there is a Chevron station that offers free overnight parking behind the building if you fill up there. It was on gravel but was flat, level and clear of obstructions so the decision was made.There was no water or power but there was a dump station, none of which we needed. Art turned on the inverter and set the Explorer Satellite dish searching for the Starchoice satellite which it locked on to in about 5 minutes. The signal is quite weak this far north and west so it takes a while.
Morning, 18th July
Alongside the gas station there is a coin operated car wash so Art plugged in the 12 quarters required (the minimum!) and spent 10 minutes hosing off the worst of the bugs from the front and dust from the sides and rear, as well giving the Tracker a quick once over.
Across the street was a Visitors Centre so Gillian walked over there while Art was occupied with the wash job. When done he drove over and parked along side the Visitors Centre and went in to tell her where he was. She was nowhere to be seen, neither inside nor out, nor could she be seen across the street near the carwash!
Some time later Art spotted her crossing the highway back towards the Chevron Station. A blast or two of the air-horns got her attention and we were soon reunited. It would appear that there were two visitors centres, almost side by side and she had been in the second while Art was looking in the first! By 10:00 AM Alaska time, 11:00 according to our clocks we turned south to Valdez on a beautiful sunny day.
As we moved south the terrain began to change as did the weather. The clouds began to form then lower, the road rose to meet them the outside temperature dropped from 20 to 12 and before we arrived in Valdez the wipers were working almost continuously. As we we got closer to the snow capped mountains and the occasional glacier Art was glad he taken the opportunity to pull a sweatshirt over his T shirt at one of the dog walking rest stops.
Not far from Valdez the road follows the river through a narrow canyon. Near the end is a long wide pull out where we stopped to take these photos. The waterfalls are on both sides of the road.Valdez
We arrived in Valdez somewhere around 6:00PM Alaska time and drove to an RV Park supposedly at the end of the spit to find it closed. In fact more like abandoned. We turned around and found another nearby called Bear Paw RV Park and booked in for the night. We planned to stay likely 2 nights and possible 3. The park offers free wireless and the dish found the satellite, though it took almost 10 minutes to do so! We are envious of the weather reports from home! A switch from when we are in our winter location!
Valdez is quite a small town but has a large and active fishing harbour, several museums, restaurants and stores. Valdez is also of course the terminus of the 800 mile long Alaska Pipeline pumping crude oil from Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Ocean to the tanker terminal here. According to the town's website there is a tanker departing almost every day. The town appears to be entirely surrounded by cloud covered mountains with only one opening in the large bay to Prince William Sound and of course the canyon we drove through on the way in.
We finally decided to stay 2 full days and catch the ferry, a highspeed catamaran. ("Fast Cat" for the interest of our B.C. and Island friends!) Details on the trip next post. We depart Wednesday morning for Whittier and visit Seward, the Kenai Peninsula, Homer and Anchorage before turning north again for Fairbanks. (Click map above.)
Monday night we went of a "light supper" as the only non-smoking bar/bistro/restaurant in town. From the outside it didn't appear too appealing but it was close by and non smoking so we thought we would give it a try. Entering we were pleasantly surprised. White linen table cloths and a funky bar. We were shown to a table and the waiter was quickly looking after us. We quickly realised that he was Spanish, from the Island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands. He lived near the capital city of Santa Cruz and was pleased to hear that we had visited the island twice, though many many years ago. The owner too is Spanish, from Madrid. We met him the next evening.
We has a local IPA to quench our thirst then ordered our meals. We each planned to just have one of the many offered appetisers on the menu. To Art's first order he responded "No tengo." (literally "I don't have") to his next), "No hay pato" ("There isn't any duck.") Gillian was successful in her request for mussels; "They are very good, but it is only an appetiser but I'll bring you plenty of bread. Don't worry, you won't be hungry." Art tried for the third time, hoping now for scallops; "Oh yes we have scallops. Very nice." And off he went. Somewhere in there he explained with a smile "This is Valdez after all. The boat comes in on Tuesday. We will have everything tomorrow"!We noticed Paella on the menu. Art had first experienced this magic combination of fish, shellfish, sometimes chicken and always saffron in Puerto De La Cruz in Tenerife 30 years ago and still remembered it vividly. We resolved to return tomorrow night.
We had each ordered a single glass of wine with our dinner and at near the end of the meal the owner came by and said "You need more wine." even though we each had a bit left in our glasses. None the less he the bottle into Art's glass. He then returned with more red wine for Gillian!
After we had finished our meal we decided to go take our wine to the bar so the bus girl (a student from China working to practice her English which was very good) could clear our table. The restaurant had been closed for some time. At the bar he returned to chat, picked up more wine and again topped up our wine glasses! Gillian even got a clean glass! The Tour de France was on the TV in the corner of the bar and we commented, as a Canadian was in the top ten. With a grin he replied "I don't watch it, I don't care about it. Is only a bike race. We won the World Cup, that is good enough for us"!
For our last night in Valdez we strolled back to the Edgewater Bar and Grill for our Paella. The place was busy but we took a seat at the bar, ordered our dinner and relaxed over beer while we The waited for a table. Juan remembered us and looked after us well.The paella was a bit disappointing, being a little dry, but is was very tasty. We couldn't finish it all so we took the remainder home to put in the fridge for another day--probably Art's lunch!
We had hoped to make this an early night as we had to be in the ferry lineup by 7:00AM. Our plans as frequently happened didn't quite work out but we did mange to get up in time, though Art woke in a panic saying "Gill! Get up! we're late!" Once he got his glasses on and looked at the clock he said "Oh--guess it was a dream--it's only 4:30!" Gillian's reaction can be imagined
More next post.
Posts
Too bad you missed a meal at Fast Eddy's in Tok. Perhaps on the way home. I stayed at same place and ate at same place in Valdez. agree it was great and unexpected.
ReplyDelete