The Long and Winding Road . . .

On Sunday, May 31, we hit the road from the Sikanni River Campground about 8:45 a.m.  Beautiful, scenic drive today although a little more challenging around mountain lakes and mountain vistas.  Stopped at Tetsa River Lodge for yummy cinnamon buns.  We stayed here for two nights in 2004 and had it marked to go back to.  They only have a satellite phone and a huge gas generator.  They make their cinnamon buns and bread from scratch and the buns put Cinnabon to shame!!  Ate our sandwiches in the parking lot with a warm, gooey cinnamon bun for dessert (plus another for breakfast tomorrow - shhh!! don't tell anyone!).  Gray and drizzly today but still beautiful.  Good viewing day: 2 moose standing in a little lake alongside the road, lots of buffalo, 9 stone sheep in and near the road in a winding mountainous area - they hop over the guardrails with great ease!!, and one lone caribou.  Got into Liard River Hot Springs Provincial Park at a decent hour.  After dinner we braved the drizzle and headed down the boardwalk to the hot springs.  As beautiful as we remembered and felt just as good!!! You can choose your comfort zone from REALLY hot to bathtub warm - natural gravel bottom - amazing!!  40 degrees, a light rain, and beautiful naturally hot water!

 

It was a wonderful day, Tetsa River cinnamon buns and Liard River Hot Springs!! Slept like a baby!

 

Monday we hit the road again at about 8:45 (we thought that was the time); between changing time zones, no internet, and no cell phone service, it leaves those of us without wristwatches a little uncertain about what time it really is.  Oh well, who cares!!  Spectacular views again today - rivers, mountains, lakes, and wildlife!!! Saw a total of 20 buffalo, a porcupine, and three black bears - one all alone and the other two fairly close together - all were just trucking down the grassy area alongside the road.

Snow on the mountains but none on the roads!!

 

 

We stopped for lunch at a rest area with a spectacular view (see below).  We spent the night at Hi Country RV Park in Whitehorse. Gave the truck and trailer a scrub down before parking and setting up.  It was filthy!!

 





 

Today we made the last leg of the trip in Yukon Territory.  This section has the most roadwork, frost heaves, and short gravel stretches.  The ground is permafrost and is very unstable so they fight a constant battle to keep the road in as good a driving condition as possible.  You just have to slow down a bit, pay attention, and drive for the conditions.  Saw one bull moose today, he was up to his chest in water/weeds and looked up or Chuck would have missed him.  He had a pretty nice rack of antlers.  We got through Customs with no problems and are settled in Tok, Alaska for the night. We are about 2 hours from Fairbanks and we will head there tomorrow.  It is nice to have Verizon service and have use of my jetpack for wifi.  We do get spoiled, don't we??