Day 35

We visited the University of Alaska Museum Of The North. From the parking area we had a great view of the Alaska mountain range including Mt McKinley (Denali). I loved the architecture of the building and inside, they had the exhibits of animals, history and culture divided into the different regions. On the second floor was an art gallery with historical art with new artists.

Mount McKinley

Dall Sheep

The boats were carved from the jaw of a wale

Day 34

On our way to Fairbanks we stopped at North Pole Alaska to visit the Santa Claus House, not nearly as impressed as we were before. Karen did buy a nice warm vest with a hood; we each had a mocha latte and headed for the campground. It rained most of the day and I took the truck for an oil change, tire rotation and a new fuel filter then we all went out to dinner.

Day 33

We finished our journey across the Klondike Loop “Top of The World Highway” to Delta Junction which is the termination point of the Alaska Highway. Breakfast was at Fast Eddies in Tok and it was great! It was then time to look for a RV wash to get rid of the baked on mud. It took 12 quarters ($3.00) per 10 minutes; it took me 40 minutes ($12.00) and that was just to get the mud off, now the rig needs a good soap wash and wax. We got to camp about 2:30 and relaxed then after dinner worked on e-mails and Blog updates.  

The day started out OK

WHOOPS!

Great views

Nice to see pavement again!

Day 32

Crossed the Yukon River by ferry and drove the Top of The World Highway to the Alaska border and on to Chicken Alaska. The road is mostly hard packed dirt and probably not real bad except for potholes and washboard sections. Well, today it was raining and we climbed most of the time and the dirt was a slippery mud bath. We crossed the border into Alaska after traveling 32 days and 4,635 miles from home. It took us six and one half hours to go 110 miles and 5.3mpg for the day. We stopped for a break at a pull-out and discovered that my rear jacks had come down and broke so I had to get under the trailer and remove them. It was misting rain, about 35 degrees and windy, YUCK! When we arrived in Chicken the vehicles were covered with layers of thick mud. Even though it was poor driving conditions the views were fantastic and it truly seemed like you were driving on top of the world.

Our friends Jim & Norma driving onto the ferry

Our day's drive

 

Chicken Alaska 

Day 31

It was a windy, cold rainy morning. I went to get gas and drive to the top of Midnight Dome. This is a place you can see Dawson City and the Yukon River, it is a nice view and would have been better if it was sunny, still nice. Jim and I walked down to the ferry dock to watch cars, campers, motorcycles and trucks board for their trip across the Yukon River. This is a free ferry provided by the Yukon Government. We prepped for our trip across the Yukon River and The Top of The World Highway then later walked back downtown to the bakery and at 4:00 they were sold out for the day, oh well. 

Day 30

After breakfast Karen and I walked down to the ferry landing to watch them load RVs and cars. The four of us walked into town about three short blocks from the campground and explored the variety of small shops and a little grocery shopping then back to the camper. The campground has a Wi-Fi hotspot so you need to be close to the office to connect and sit outside. We went to Sourdough Joe’s for lunch and had their fish & chips which were very good.  The restaurant sits on the first lot sold in Dawson City; the story was on the cover of the menu so Karen copied it down for her scrapbook. Later that evening we all went to Diamond Tooth Gerties Gambling Hall to watch the Can-Can show, it was fun.

Dawson City and the Yukon River

Here are some of the buildings in Dawson City

These buildings were leaning because they were built over permafrost and when heat was added it melted the ground!