FAIRBANKS, ALASKA to EUREKA, CALIFORNIA Fairbanks, AK to Beaver Creek, YT 311 miles

Us with all our friends a few nights before we left.

October 10, 2010 9:40am – 5:30pm

We had planned to leave at 10:10am on 10/10/10, but the first snowfall of winter prompted us to leave earlier. So by 9:40am, we were on the road. The snow fell quickly and the road became a slippery slide that we inched down most of the day. The typically 1h45 trip to Delta took nearly three. After Delta, snow was patchy and slippery road snuck up on us.

Birch Lake, Richardson Highway

Near Salcha, Richardson Highway

Richardson Highway near Salcha

The fresh snow clung to all the trees, bushes, and signs. It was really beautiful. Until today, much of the area was dingy snowless brown. Now it looked new and clean.

We didn’t do much more than a few photo stops. Zoey did well though. I think she’s still a little terrified and will do what we ask just because she’s afraid we’ll dump her out in the wilderness and drive away if she doesn’t cooperate.

Tok, Alaska visitor center cutout picture with Zoey

We stopped in Tok to take photos and get gas. As we pulled out of the gas station, a woman driving on the highway slowed quickly and slid to a stop just inches from our front bumper. As it turned out, Matt had left his gloves on top of the car while he pumped gas and drove away. She saw them and stopped to alert us, even though she put her car and life at risk to do so. She didn’t want us to lose our gloves when driving in the winter. I hope Californians are as nice as Alaskans. Here it seemed that everyone was watching my back, especially in the winter.

Matt and I had planne to get a photo of Zoey with the Canada sign, but we’d have to carry her along the busy highway to do it. I didn’t want her to jump out of my arms in fear and die by passing cars. So you’ll have to take my word for it : my cat is now an international traveler.

Welcome to Canada and the Yukon, ou on vive en deux langues.

We stopped for the night at 5:30pm AKDT, just after we entered the Pacific Time Zone and Canada at Beaver Creek, Yukon Territory. The town is literally three hotels/gas stations/restaurants. On a half mile stretch of road, the cops pulled over three cars. Remind me not to speed tomorrow. While dining at Ida’s, a very friendly older man came up to talk to us. He was returning to Fairbanks and talked to us about his work as a consultant for the Weather Bureau (now called the NWS) and how in the 70’s, the government tried to get rid of surface observing stations in favor of satellite and how it took the intervention by President LBJ to finally settle the matter—to keep the surface weather stations. We watched a movie on satellite TV. The commercials were especially funny after being used to the lame Fairbanks ones. Ie-Mattress Ranch.