6-7-2007 - The End of the Roadtrip, but Not the End of the Road.

The last couple of days I drove across the Yukon, stopping briefly in Whitehorse, and then down to Anchorage. I would qualify it as “tough sledding” – a pretty arduous journey by modern standards. I loved the way the official sign on the highway described it: “Every time a road is constructed the ground surface is disturbed. Disturbance of the insulating layer of vegetation allows additional heat to penetrate below the surface, thawing permafrost and creating a zone called a thaw bulb. Thaw bulbs, so called because of their shape, are responsible for the big rolling dips and bumps that make you feel as though your car has become an out of control porpoise as you travel down the highway.”

I’ll let you guess which part of that description I find hilarious!

So you pretty much have to stare at the road for hundreds of miles and hour after hour to avoid bottoming out and gouging out chunks of pavement (as I could see many vehicles before me had done), which gets a bit tedious after a while, especially since you can't really relax and enjoy the scenery so much. I'll admit I got frustrated at one point, but then I again ended up laughing about it, and even started whooping and hollering every once in a while like that guy riding the bomb out of the plane in Dr. Strangelove.

I'm definitely glad to have my truck, and pulled it over at exactly 5000.0 trip miles, which just happened to be at the doorstep to Kluane National Park in the Yukon.

I was very happy to re-enter the USA again today, and obviously to be doing so in AK.

Finally, I'm back where ordering a "liter of cola" is funny (I know at least one of you gets that reference).

As when I went through customs into Canada on my out of the lower 48, I had “Born in the USA” playing on the stereo, and screamed “YEEEAAAAHHH” at the top of my lungs about 6 or 7 times after I crossed the border and realized, after much pondering and doubt and fear over the last several months, that I AM HERE. I don’t want to get too mushy, but I would really like to thank all of my friends, which I won’t try to do by name, who helped me get through the last few years, and indeed the last couple decades. I would especially like to thank my parents who have been so supportive, and hope I can carve out an existence up here which will make us all proud.

I will make this the last post on this blog, but will share some photos from later adventures around Alaska on a different blog for those who have expressed an interest. Thanks to all who have followed along and to all who commented. A few final pics on the way to Anchorage:

After midnight near the Yukon/Alaska border:

Two glaciers off the highway within a couple hours of Anchorage:

Another miles-long glacier off the highway shows they really are rivers of ice, and displays where it once was and how far it has receded:

My first "apartment" in Anchorage (at 10:45 pm), with a touch of home glinting on the picnic table bench:

Final Trip Odometer: 5628
Days: 18
Highest Gas Price: $4.93 (Dease Lake, British Columbia - adjusted to US dollars/gallon).

So, that's it. Now to find an apartment and job. And to head out into The Last Frontier.