RV ALASKA - Turning for Home

Moving on from Fairbanks was a bittersweet moment.  It was the actual point in the journey where we pointed the truck to the east, and officially began the long trek home.   That afternoon, we would arrive back in Tok, and spend our final night in Alaska.  But first, we had two stops to make.

Date(s) – August 13th  

Total Miles Traveled to Date – 13,112

Wildlife Sightings to Date – We didn’t see a single critter on our way from Fairbanks to Tok.  That makes six days in a row with no wildlife.  They must all be on vacation.  Maybe we’ll have more luck in Canada?

So, our current tally of wildlife sightings is still: 96 eagles (including 2 fledglings); 4 seagull chicks; 12 swans (including 2 fuzzy cygnets); 9 sea lions; 27 seals; 17 sea otters; 4 cow moose; 1 bull moose; 1 grizzly sow with 2 cubs; 1 back end of a grizzly bear; 6 black bears; 1 coyote; 1 snowshoe hare; 3 rabbits (including one very fast bunny that just managed to cross the road safely); several small herds of bison with at least 2 dozen young calves; 9 deer (2 of them bucks with their racks covered in velvet); 9 mountain goats (including 3 tiny and adorable kids); 23 bighorn sheep; 62 elk (including 7 calves that hadn’t yet lost their spots and a number of bull elk with full racks covered in velvet); several small herds of pronghorn antelope (including 2 mamas with 3 newborn fawns between them); 3 great blue herons; dozens of American white pelicans; at least a half dozen families of adult geese with goslings; and several dozen ducks (with lots of little ducklings).

Highlight(s) – We’ve been to Santa’s house in the North Pole!  Yes, indeed!  The Santa Claus House in North Pole, Alaska, has been around since 1950.  To be honest, I think other Christmas shops we’ve visited in the lower 48 have been more impressive, but this one is lovely, and it offers something you won’t find anywhere else – letters from Santa postmarked from the North Pole!  If you had young children or grandchildren, this would be a fun thing to do ($9.95 each), but they also have letter options for non-kids, too, and I believe all of them are available online.

After well over a month in Alaska, we finally reached the end of the Alaska Highway in Delta Junction.  Because we headed south from Tok when we first arrived in the state instead of continuing on to Fairbanks as we had originally planned, we hadn’t actually traveled the entire length of the famous highway.  We achieved that honor when we pulled into the Visitor Center at Delta Junction located at Mile Post 1422, and put our $3.00 down on the counter in exchange for a signed and dated Certification of Completion.  It didn’t matter to us that we did the last section of the Alaska Highway in a backwards direction; we knew we had traveled its full length and were happy to walk away with our certificate in hand.  Now if I could just remember where in the trailer I put it for safekeeping . . .

Sullivan’s Roadhouse wasn’t originally on our itinerary, but it was located just across a side road from the Delta Junction Visitor Center, and so we wandered over.  Much like the stage coach stops across the western United States, roadhouses were built in strategic locations along the highways in Alaska so that weary travelers would find food and rest along their route.  Sullivan’s Roadhouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and our docent Sandy was extremely knowledgeable and fun to talk with.  The short walk over to the Roadhouse was one we were glad we made.

Guess who we saw at the Delta Junction Visitor Center!  Sanford!  Remember the buses we had been noticing all over the state that had been named after mountains in western Canada and Alaska?  Well, Sanford was one of them.  We certainly didn’t expect to see any more of our “friends” that far north, but his driver pulled into the parking lot shortly after we had picked up our certificate and while were sitting in the trailer having lunch.  Apparently, he made a quick stop at the Visitor Center so that Sanford’s passengers could see Mile Post 1422 and visit Sullivan’s Roadhouse.  It wasn’t long before Sanford was off, doing what he did best – transporting his passengers in comfort while they explored the Last Frontier.

Lowlight(s) – Picking up our Certificate of Completion for driving the entire length of the Alaska Highway was definitely a highlight.  Finding out that the Mile Post 1422 sign had been removed for restoration was not.  It seems to me that even a colorful, vinyl banner would have been much more impressive that the temporary sign that stood in place of the original Mile Post.  We were expecting something more along the lines of what we found in Fairbanks at Mile Post 1523, and we were really disappointed.  HOWEVER, I did walk out to the actual highway to find the old sign which (in my humble opinion) is much better than the temporary one that’s there now.

Campground(s) – Not only did we return to the Tundra RV Park (and Bar) for our last night in Alaska, but we spent it in site 39 which we had occupied on our earlier visit way back when we had first arrived in the state.  Liked it then, liked it now.

Laugh(s) of the Day – I translated this sign to read, “If a bison head butts your truck into a big rock, your tires will probably go flat and fall off.”  What do you think it really means?

Pics(s) of the Day

Santa Claus House - North Pole, Alaska

A jolly, giant size Santa Claus at home in the North Pole!

An excellent view of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline somwhere between Fairbanks and Delta Junction

Mile Post 1422 - Delta Junction, Alaska

Pitiful, right?

Older, but so much better!

There we are at the official end of the Alaska Highway!

And there's our friend Sanford!

That's the Roadhouse in the back to the left of the sign.

A couple of interior shots

Sullivan's Roadhouse really was lovingly preserved.

"Braided" rivers are divided into many channels due to an accumulation of sediment - very common in Alaska.

A windshield shot between Delta Junction and Tok

Back at Site 39 at the Tundra RV Park (and Bar)

Up Next – We were traveling the Alaska Highway again, only this time it was from west to east.  The worst part of the road is the section between Tok and Destruction Bay, Yukon Territory, Canada.  On our last trip through, we had averaged only 39 mph due to the number and magnitude of the frost heaves - and that ordeal was coming up again.  It sure would be nice to make it through without damage to the truck or trailer.  Fingers crossed!

Note to All Y’All – Alan and I are back in the States and in familiar territory.  I’m trying my best to catch up on blog posts.  Please be patient; I’ll get there – eventually.