Day 23 Valdez to Beaver Creek, YT, Canada

Close encounters not of the third kind

Getting up before Kathy I take care of a few errands.  Laundry done and gas tank filled I gather Kat from the room and we go eat breakfast.  Which takes about an hour and a half.  Maybe it was brunch.

I was telling Dad on the phone that we were in Valdez and he delighted me in telling me he had been there, 55 plus years ago while in the airforce.  He had to deliver a truckload of radar and communication equipment to a station at Valdez.  He remembered it as being in January with 4 feet of snow on the ground.

On the way again we go the way we came into Valdez. One way in and one way out unless your in a boat or plane.  We stop and see a railroad tunnel that was never completed due to a gunfight that ended chances of rail traffic ever reaching Valdez.

I notice a blur of brown breaking from the tree line.  As I get on the brakes, the brown blur becomes a moose.  A large cow bursts from the woods and propels herself onto the highway.  Perhaps she sees me, or hears me, but at the last minute near the yellow line she veers back into her own lane, and back into the foilage.  It was close, I looked her in the eye.  I slow down and decide to take my time. Kat says thank you.

Stopped at Glenallen for gas and knick knack patti wacks.  Met up with some guys from Washington state. One was kind enough to give me a map of Washington state which I appreciated.  GPS's are great but no substitute for a real map.

Continuing on we go once again through Tok, where we spent the night after the "Top of the World Highway".  But this time we continue on toward the Canadian border.  The Customs officer this time is a little sullen.  Maybe he is the low man on the totem pole to have to be working Sunday afternoon, maybe he's just a butt,  or maybe he dreams of riding to Arkansas and is stuck here guarding Canada against Al Qaeda.

We stop at a little town called Beaver Creek, YT (Yukon Territory).  Two motels, one restaurant.  The first hotel has no vacancy, the second, ran by a disheveled man from the Middle East has a room.  WiFi ? If you stand in front of the office.  We get to the room and it's a little chilly.  The heater does not come on.  So, the hotel manager gives Kathy a small plug-in heater to ward off the chill.

Tomorrow we head to Alaska again.

Valdez to Beaver Creek pics