23 June 08

23 June 08, Monday

Since we had Internet at our campground we took our time leaving and I had a chance to send and receive a lot of mail. We also did not want to be one of the first on the gravel road; let them go, take your time and if it gets late, daylight lasts forever.

We had a look at the ferry line up and saw that another Sprinter was standing in the car line; a very short line. The RV line was several blocks long and the ferry only takes one or two big RV’s.

There was so little traffic on the gravel road we decided to continue and keep a minute or so from the traffic ahead. Later on they had put calcium on the surface, the dust was not half as bad as we had expected. The road was actually good in most places.

The road is called: “The Top of the World Highway” and it lives up to it’s name. You can see forever to the right and to the left. You travel right on the ridge of the mountain range for a very long time. I called the mountains “porcupine hills” because of the spare pine tree growth; mostly small trees. It is very dry; very little rain; except later on in the afternoon it rained; it kept the dust down. We were so high that when the rain started we were on top of or higher than the rainbow; .

After crossing the border into Alaska we saw two moose, one of them with two calves; they took their time crossing the road and one even walked alongside to check us out. It is neat to see the wildlife from the vehicle. Once they are off the road and into the bush on the side they immediately and totally disappear. We just saw them, they can only be in a few feet, and you can’t find them any more.

There is still some personal gold panning going on. Some were just sitting along the creek and panning in front of them; some with shovels working harder

There was even one setup with a small bulldozer and a bus camper; in for the long haul. It must be kicks, every time you take more gravel you may find the big one ---- and never have to work again, you hope. Must be a feeling like gambling.

We actually drove southerly most of the day so our night stop at a rest area is at:

N 63º 19.151’   W 142º 37.801