The
temperature was 48 degrees when we left the campground at 7AM Pacific
Time. I took this picture of one of the
vintage WWII vehicles on display at Discovery RV Park where we stayed.
Much of the
road from Burwash Landing, YK to the US
border has been virtually destroyed by frost heaves. Over the scores of miles where they are
working to make repairs, they have removed the surface treatment and have
bladed the roadway to dirt/gravel. While
some of the dirt stretches have been graded smooth allowing for speed up to
50mph, much of it is washboard consistency mandating speed of less than
10mph.
Our clocks
rolled back an hour when we crossed the border at 7:30 AM, Alaska time (4 hours behind Eastern Time). The customs lady took our 1 orange and 1
tomato from our fruit basket. I knew we
should have had sliced tomatoes at dinner last night. We now have a reason to go to a WalMart tomorrow. :)
Soon after
crossing the border we drove through an area that had been ravaged by a forest
fire. Flashing warning signs were seen warning of wildfires in the area and
you could smell smoke in the air.
Joe decided
to let me drive on the Alaska Highway across some construction zone areas
giving him a much needed break. He said
I did OK. Here's proof in the pictures.
After getting
gas in Tok, AK, we changed our itinerary and decided to go to Valdez today
instead of tomorrow. It was nice to have
cell service again and talk to our family.
Traveling
south on the Tok Cut Off, we crossed the Little Tok River and was met with a
nice view of some of the mountains in the area.
There was about 10 miles of
severe frost heave road damage that had not been repaired. Anyone going above 40mph could guarantee
their wheels would leave the ground. It
was like riding a bucking horse in a rodeo.
The crack in the window has grew another inch and it's started raining again.
The road
south to Valdez wasn't much better. We
stopped at the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park visitor center and looked around
for a bit. Heading south on the
Richardson Highway to Valdez had some pretty spots, but the Ice Fields Parkway
was more impressive.
There are a
lot of rivers, mountains, and waterfalls around Valdez.
We camped at
Eagle's Rest Campground in downtown Valdez
surrounded by snow-capped mountains.
The campground was nothing more than a gravel parking lot with RV
hook-ups, but it gave us a place to stop, rest, look around and decide what
direction we go tomorrow. We drove
398 miles today on very rough roads and in the fog and rain. Very tired and ready for bed early. It's nice not to be moving, shaking and
rattling down the road. Maybe tomorrow
we will get a few clear skies to enjoy the beauty that surrounds us. Looking forward to meeting our grandson.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for reading our blog. We look forward to hearing from you and hope you enjoy our posts and pictures. If you would like to have your email removed from this blog, please email us at americanrascal@yahoo.com. Joe & Joy