Driving the Alaska Highway - Continued

The title of this post is a tad misleading...because technically, this post won't cover the Alaska Highway. We took the West Access Route through Seattle. It's still covered in The Milepost though. 

So, picking up where I last left off:

Day 5: Dawson Creek, BC to Cache Creek, BC; 519 miles; West Access Route

On this day, I decided I didn't want to reserve hotel rooms. I wanted to hurry up and get to California, and I felt that we would do better if we pushed ourselves as far as we could, then stopped. I thought we could go farther each day that way. My mother wasn't too pleased with this new plan, but as she said, I was in charge.

Dead Bugs Galore!

It was raining most of that day, so there aren't a lot of pictures. Plus, it was really, really buggy out. So the windshield was covered with dead bugs, so none of the pictures were coming out right anyways. Actually, I was glad for the rain because it helped wash all the dead bugs off the car.

It turned out not to be that great of a day. At first, the day seemed to be uneventful. Sure, the scenery was pretty, but whatever. Towards the 400 mile mark, my mom was starting to get tired. I had the goal of Cache Creek in my head, but I wasn't sure we could pull it off. So, I just said, "Let's keep going."

And so we did. My mother was really tired when we passed through a nice little town with a bunch of well known hotels, including the one we had stayed at the night before. My mom wanted to stop (and I should point out that she was driving) but I said, "Let's keep going!!"

Now, in retrospect, we should have either a) stopped at the hotel she wanted or b) switched drivers. But we are both somewhat stubborn. So I figured we could keep going and she figured she could keep driving. 

It got very dark. It began to pour. The road became very curvy. And the big rigs who are used to traveling on that road began to tailgate my mom. 

To sum up: vision was bad, and the & @#$#@ drivers were dangerous.

It was at this point, my mother says, "I have trouble seeing at night. I can't see the road and we should have had you drive."

Well, what to do about that now? I realized my mother was struggling, so I tried to soothe her best I could. I told her everything would be okay when we got to Cache Creek, because it would be like a nice town. 

Remember that scene in Willow, when Willow has Madmartigan go to Tir Asleen & it turns out the people were frozen and trolls took it over? Yeah, my night was kinda like that...only with no trolls. We weren't in danger....it just was more like a truck stop with motels. Not fantastic ones.

Since we didn't have a reservation, I had to stop at 2 motels before we found one that would take Dakota. My mom hated that one. I on the other hand slept great. The room was clean and in good condition. My mom and I were on different ends of the motel and she didn't like being so far away from me (or was it Dakota maybe??). We stayed at Canada's Best Value Inn and the price was good & they let me have Dakota. I think my mom was just done for that day.

Here are a few pics from Day 5:

Day 6: Cache Creek, BC to Salem, OR; 503 miles

I've said before that I don't travel well with people. Some people have scoffed at that statement, however, here's proof. My mother told me that she was not comfortable with me not calling ahead for rooms. My response was to tell her that she wouldn't be comfortable until she was back home, sleeping in her own bed and that we should hurry up and get her home.

But, to appease her, I had called ahead to the hotel chain she liked and found one right outside of Seattle. But that bothered me. I wanted a LONG day of driving. I didn't say anything but decided to see how we felt once we hit Seattle. 

At this point of the trip, we had to stop using The Milepost because it didn't tell me how to get to Seattle. It reads as though you are already there and heading up. So, I turned to Google. And it used Google directions for the rest of the trip! 

 There were a couple of highlights on this day besides beautiful scenery: 1) We entered the United States that day; 2) THE BRIDGE; & 3) We drove through the entire state of Washington all in one day.

Canada/U.S. Border

Back in America

Passing the border into the U.S. was pretty uneventful. Except as we drove through, there was a big flash as they took our picture. I get it, but it unnerved me a bit knowing my picture was going through some facial recognition software and maybe, just maybe someone was saying, "That's Lara Ruark entering the U.S. from Canada, Sir." 

It's kind of funny, but the border is right in the middle of this town. One part is Canada, then the next is the United States.

The next big piece of excitement was involving the bridge that collapsed in Washington. On Day 4, my Facebook account blew up of everyone telling me about a bridge on I-5 that collapsed. We were two days away, and I had debated rerouting our trip to avoid that whole area. Everyone was being advised to please avoid it if possible. And it was possible to avoid, but really out of my way. I decided to risk the detour. I knew one would be set up by this time and it was a weekend when we crossed it. 

As we approached the detour, you could see the bridge up ahead. And you could tell the bridge was out, but it looked like the top had come down on the bridge. The detour took us right next to the bridge, and then you could see a span of the bridge was just gone! It is amazing that no one was seriously hurt. 

The span was GONE

The detour it's self was only about 10 minutes. I can see how during rush hour, it would be a nightmare. But for our trip, I was glad I stayed on course. It took no time at all before we were back on I-5 heading towards Seattle. 

Once we hit Seattle, we just kept on going! I was deliriously happy to be passing Seattle. I wanted to keep going. Before I knew it, we had passed through the state of Washington and were entering Oregon. I was debating how far we could push it (my mom was driving at this point) when we drove through Portland. 

My mom was starting to hit her driving "wall" and I noticed we were about to drive through Salem. I know I am a big dork, but I thought it would be funny to check in on Facebook with a location saying I was in Salem. Even though it was a different Salem that they had the famous witch trials, it kinda cracked me up. If it was only my mom, Dakota, and myself...I would have kept driving. But the cats hadn't been out of their carriers for over 10 hours. I felt bad for them. They had water but no way to relieve themselves. So, for their sake (sorry Mom, but it's true) I stopped for the night. 

My mom was insistent on staying in the same brand of hotel that she had liked so much in Canada. I didn't want to point out that everything's nicer in Canada because she was so hopeful that she'd have a better night than the one before. So I found a Super 8 in Salem, and that's where we stayed. The breakfast wasn't quite as nice as in Dawson Creek and it was crowded due to the Jehovah's Witness convention being held that weekend, but I knew it was the last hotel I would be staying in on this trip. So all was well.

Here are some pictures (it really was quite lovely):

The Space Needle

Seattle, Washington

A blurry shot of Portland

Portland, Oregon

Day 7: Salem, OR to Benicia, CA; 564 miles

I was very excited. This was the last day of my road trip. I was so ready to get settled, even if it was temporary. My brother & my sister-in-law said I could stay with them. I just had to make it to Benicia to drop off my mom & then head over to their house.

Not much happened on the road that day. My mother didn't drive that much, mostly because I asked her to let me drive before she got over tired. It took me a few days to figure it out, but I started to catch on to her signs that she was tiring. The closer we got to California, the more jazzed up I became. 

One little comical moment happened when I tried to empty Dakota's water bowl while we were driving. I didn't want to throw out the plastic bowl, so I grabbed it tightly and threw the water...only to have it come back in my face. I didn't mind, the temperature was climbing to 80 and I was really hot!!!

Once I dropped my mom off, I headed off to my brother's house. His wife threw together an impromptu celebration for me. It was awesome. Everyone quickly fell in love with Dakota, although the real love story is with Lola. When I find my own place, taking her will break some hearts I can tell. 

Here are some pictures of the last day on the road:

Mt. Shasta

Lake Shasta

My mother lives on the top of that hill

We made it!

The spread my sis put out

All smiles on the last day

So life is returning to normal for me. I've traveled 3,446 miles to come back to California. I have a job for the next school year already. I won't mention where that is...maybe never. My blog is going to be about my adventures outside the classroom. Just know that I am a proud Elementary Teacher. I love teaching the little ones, and I will have some classroom adventures, but I'll share those somewhere else. 

In two weeks, I will be leaving for Iceland. I haven't decided yet if I will be blogging every day or just journaling with a reflective blog post. It's a special event, so maybe a daily post would be in order. 

I've been back for 3 weeks now. I've settled in and the novelty of running to the store when I want to has worn off. Life is kind of boring for me really. Which has made me stop and question what do I want to do about that. 

I enjoy reading (I've already read 3 books the last 2 weeks) and watching movies (2 in the theater, several at home) and I've enjoyed walking Dakota around my brother's house & the end of First Street in Benicia. 

But where's the adventure in that? I think I am going to adventure withdrawl. It's a good thing Iceland is almost here. However, I've decided to go out and have a weekly adventure. A day trip with Dakota! Or maybe to an amusement park. Or something different. 

I miss the element of not knowing what to expect. I'm back in the land of things going according to plan. What is supposed to happen: happens. Stores are open when they say they'll be open. There's more than one worker to help out. Sigh. Where's the drama in that? Mail comes right to the house!

The sun sets. It's dark now. How sad. I find myself missing the midnight sun like a lost friend. Yet another reason I am looking so forward to Iceland. They have the midnight sun there too. 

I don't miss the mosquitos though. That's been freakin' sweet let me tell you! And it's funny that I can now freeze out my manly friends. 

I've gone through a book about places to take your dog in the Bay Area and dogeared some great places. I think this week I will start out slow. After all, I still have to get ready for Iceland!! I want to pack already but I have to pace myself to savor each moment!! As my friend Mandii said, it's gonna be EPIC!

Alaska brought out the adventurer in me, and now that I have a taste for adventure, I won't be able to give it up!

Driving The Alaskan Highway

First of all, I have to give a shot out to the company who produces The Milepost. I used the book and the website for maps, road conditions, and places to stay. It's called "the bible of North Country travel" and it was the only resource I used.

My mother and I met up in Anchorage. We spent two days gathering supplies and planning our trip. If it was just humans involved, I wouldn't have worried so much. But since I had cats and a dog, I wanted to be sure all was ready. 

Me & My New Car!!

We stayed at The Puffin Inn in Anchorage. I stay there every time I am in Anchorage. I really like their jacuzzi suite. Plus, I could bring Dakota there and there never have been any problems. Funny story about that...there is a weight limit on the dogs. I had been bringing Dakota there since he was a 35 pound puppy, and so I never knew about the weight restriction. And when I came in with a 110 lb Dakota, no one said anything to me. The manager told me that he knows my dog and knew he was a really good dog. And Dakota has never caused any trouble there, but it was that little act of kindness that made me realize how special Alaska is. People are truly kind in Alaska. I will miss that. 

That Saturday, I got to pick up my new car. After living in teacher housing for 3 years, that car was the fanciest thing that I have ever seen. And it was mine! I couldn't believe it. It was so pretty and clean. I knew that wouldn't last long. Not with a 3,000 mile road trip with 2 adults, 2 cats, and a dog. 

I am going to note at this point that those two days were the only nights I shared a hotel room with my mother. She's allergic to cats and while it worked out for Anchorage, we didn't want to tempt fate and have her react to the kitties. 

Day 1: Anchorage, AK to Tok, AK; 328 miles; Glenn Highway

The first day out was pretty uneventful. Fitting all of our luggage & the animals was tricky. I might have freaked out about that. It was tricky, but once I got everything in and the animals were settled, I relaxed. 

I will say that Alaska has a nasty habit of renaming highways with the same name as another one. Then they rename the old highway Old _____. There was a couple of times that day where I had to ask myself, "Wait....did I want Old Glenn Highway?" I was glad I went over the route that night before. And if anything, that first day taught me to go over the map more carefully each night. 

I had called ahead the night before to reserve a room. The books all recommended it. What I didn't know until we got on the road, was that the season was 5 days away from starting. So not everything was open, BUT what was open (and enough of hotels & gas stations were open so we didn't feel the pinch) was pretty empty. So rooms ended up not being an issue. 

The highlight of the day was when I saw a sign for something called, "Glacier View ____." I thought, "Why would they call something Glacier View? Is there a glacier nearby!?!" And I turned a corner and saw to my right.....yeah, that's a glacier. I was beside myself! I didn't know I was going to be driving by a glacier! How cool is that?

Driving past a glacier

I guess there was something that happened. Gas wasn't an issue, but there weren't any rest stops on the road. And there was a long stretch of road with no bathrooms. So, at one point, I had to pull off and go behind a tree. I was a bit nervous doing that, but I took Dakota with me and figured he'd protect me. After that day, I was careful about going to the bathroom when bathrooms were available. But as the rest of the trip had rest stops, it wasn't an issue. 

We arrived at Tok, Alaska. And it was going to be my last night in Alaska. We stayed at Golden Bear Motel & RV Park. And the people who ran it were so incredibly nice. The rooms were nice but the restaurant wasn't open yet. But we went to dinner at a place called Fast Eddy's. 

At this point, I should note that we hadn't been driving on the Alaska Highway yet. We drove the Glenn Highway that day.

Here are some pictures of Day 1:

Poor Moose

We stopped here for lunch

My favorite picture.....

Golden Bear

We ate dinner here

Day 2: Tok, AK to Whitehorse, Yukon; 387 miles; Alaska Highway

That was the day of my phone interview at 5:00 p.m. (4 p.m Alaskan time). I had checked my cell phone plan and the website said I would be roaming. My goal was to hit Whitehorse by 3 p.m. I figured I could spend an hour getting settled. 

I'm an idealist at times. 

A couple of points to note: Day 2 is when we crossed the border into Canada. We were in the Yukon Territory of Canada at that point. Canada posts signs letting you know that now the signs will be posted in kilometers instead of miles. Oddly enough, Canada does NOT post when you've entered into a different time zone, but more of that later.

On this leg of the trip, part of the road had been washed out right before Whitehorse. By the way, even though the roads are paved, it's pretty gnarly. We had a to take a detour off the bad road, and the condition of the alternate road made me really curious to see why that road was deemed the better choice. There was a truck that had in big letters: FOLLOW ME on it to represent the pilot car. 

Our detour

At this point, it was 3:30....and we were still a ways from Whitehorse. I had a nagging suspicion I was going to miss my interview. 

Whitehorse is the capital of the Yukon Territory and is quite widespread. I had asked the hotel if they were easy to find the night before. They weren't. It was by sheer dumb luck I found the hotel. 

I had tried calling the hotel, only to find my cell phone would only work if I dialed 911. It was now 4:00 and time for my interview and I had only just pulled into the hotel. 

Actually, I noticed the clocks said it was 5 p.m. and that's when I realized I had crossed into a new time zone. 

It turns out, I made my interview. I called from the hotel room and the school called me back. Everything went smoothly. I mean, I didn't end up getting the job, but that's okay. Everything worked out.

We stayed at the Best Western Gold Rush Inn and it had the softest bed I had ever slept in! There was one ugly incident that kinda ruined it for me. I had to take Dakota out the front door to walk him. And he's a really good dog. We turned this corner and he started barking at this one woman. Now, for all I know, she eats her babies. But a rep from the hotel was giving her some tour and came up to Dakota and started pushing him back with her body saying, "Oh I know, you are just an obnoxious malamute!" 

I wished I had said something to her. But I was just one part shocked at her behavior and the other part of me wanted to get my dog away from a woman who bothered him enough to bark at. But other than that, everyone else was really nice. I am still mad that woman said that about my dog. For all she knows, the other woman was pure evil. Dakota is NOT obnoxious! My mom actually complained to the hotel about that woman insulting my dog. 

Here are some pictures of Day 2:

Crossing the border...

Canada has spots to pull off & throw trash away

The bridge warned parts could break off

Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear

Canada has different candy...

...and money!

Day 3: Whitehorse, Yukon to Watson Lake, Yukon; 282 miles; Alaska Highway

Even though this day was the shortest drive, it was my least favorite. We hit a snowstorm on the way to Watson Lake and I did not like driving in the snow. I was worried when I saw the temperature dropping to 32 degrees. I did not want to deal with icy roads. 

This day was a turning point for me. I realized that I didn't want to do half day trips. I wanted to drive longer on my trips. I didn't want to be on the road 8+ days. 

I also didn't care for the hotel as much. It was my least favorite. The room was the pet room, which was nice, except that it smelled like it was the pet room. And people kept walking past the room with their animals, which would freak out my animals, so I didn't get a lot of sleep that night. My mom, on the other hand, really enjoyed her stay in her room. We stayed at the Big Horn Hotel in Watson Lake. The people were nice and it was easy to find.

Here are some pics of Day 3:

Yeah....sure it's paved....

Bear!

At one of the rest stops

Snow storm!!

Big Horn Hotel

Watson Lake

Day 4: Waston Lake, Yukon Territory to Dawson Creek, British Colombia; 613 miles, Alaska Highway

This day was my favorite day on the trip. As we were leaving the Watson Lake area, we stopped for some gas. The ladies working this one store had warned my mother that we'd be seeing lots of animals and the bison were particularly dangerous because they have no fear of cars. I took this to mean that they stay in the road and don't move. My mother took it to mean they charge your car like rhinos. I thought buffalo were more like cows. Turns out I was right.

We saw: grizzly bears, black bears, buffalo, moose, goats, sheep, elk, caribou, deer but no eagles. This was the day I had to stop my car to let a black bear cross the road. I was laughing the whole time in disbelief. Dakota growled at the bears & buffalo. He growled at the bear crossing the street. 

We stopped at this great RV park/lodge. It was called the Toad River Lodge and it had an amazing collection of baseball hats from all over the world. The hats were all on the ceiling. The picture doesn't do it justice, because there must have been thousands of them!

It was also the first day I saw any signs of spring. Which was lovely.

It was a long drive. That last 100 miles was tough. We all wanted out of the car! We stayed at the Super 8 in Dawson Creek, which was very nice. It had the best morning breakfast we had during the whole trip. But that's the next day.

Here's a lot pictures for Day 4:

Grizzly bear (there were two of them)

Canada & British Colombian Flags

The bear crossing the road

This marks the end of the Alaskan Highway. It has taken me several hours to post Days 1-4. I will continue this post with Days 5-7 in a couple of days. Feel free to leave me comments!!