Day 19. Back to reality (for Jim)

Jim has returned from the trip of a lifetime. He flew from Fairbanks AK to Boston MA without incident, except a lack of sleep on the red eye. He left Pepe to continue the great journey.

We look for Pepe to occasionally update the blog on his continuing adventures.

Day 18. Leaving Fairbanks

Today is Jim's last day of the great northern adventure. Pepe will take Jim to the airport at about 1:00pm today for a 3:49pm flight to Seattle & then Boston. It has been a great trip & will be remembered a long time.

We had a special treat last night with a great dinner at the Pump House restaurant & a few beers & pool at the famous Howling Day Saloon.

We set our alarms for 1am to get up to see the northern lights (Aurora Borealis). It was a great show & something worth getting up for. It is definitely one of the 100 things to see. The Japanese rate this the 2nd best thing to see in your lifetime. Pretty neat.

We are blogging at the Fairbanks Visitor Center & Pepe will try to keep it going although Jim is taking the 2 laptops home (1 is having problems).

Day 17. Soaking in the hot springs

We slept late today & had a big, messy breakfast of corn beef hash, eggs, & toast. After cleaning up, we headed out to the Alaska pipeline about 10 miles away. We then went to the Chena Hot Springs Resort (about 60 miles for our campground). The hot springs were very warm & smelled of sulphur. We soaked about 3 hours until we could bearly move.

We headed back to camp for an early day. Pepe did some laundry & Jim bought some souvenirs.

Jim treated Betsy to a car wash. Pepe hopes nothing falls up now that it is clean.

We are off to a nice dinner in town tonight to celebrate Jim's last day of the trip & Pepe's freedom. Starting on Monday, Pepe will to be able to run the show exactly as he sees fit.

On Monday, Jim flys back to Boston about 3:45pm.

This may be the last blog unless Pepe feels inspired to keep it going.

Day 16. Arriving in Fairbanks AK

We had a short drive of about 300 miles on the Top of the World Hwy & up Route 2. It was an easy drive & we arrived in Fairbanks early, about 1:30pm. We had the oil changed & checked into the Riveredge RV Park.

We went to Fred Meyer store to by some groceries. We had fresh, wild Sockeye salmon & califlower. It was the best meal of the trip so far. We toured Pioneer Park & found out that a good Aurora Borealis is scheduled for Sunday night. We will set our alarms for 1am in hopes of clear skies to watch the show. We also met a probable classmate of Kent's from JFK Junior High, 1973-74. We didn't remember him.

We also quickly toured the University of Alaska, which is near our campground.

Day 15. Striking it rich

We tried our luck at panning for gold at Claim #6, Bonaza Creek, Dawson City. We rented 2 pans for $2 each & started digging. We dug up the side of a hill, hauled the dirt & rocks to the creek, & panned in the stream. We did this over & over & over without success. Pepe found a nice rock. Jim found a new muscle in his sore back & decided to keep his day job.

We had lunch in Dawson City, crossed by ferry over the muddy Yukon River, & drove about 100 miles to Chicken AK. We crossed the border without incident. We spent a quiet night in Chicken AK. Pepe & Jim signed a UCONN hat that Pepe brought. He stapled to the middle of the back wall of the Chicken Creek Saloon with all the other hats. In future years, we leave it up to Greg, Alex, Allannah, Angelique, Davis, & JC to find that signed hat in Chicken AK & add their names.

Over the last two days, we travelled about 600 miles & managed to cross 3 time zones. Pepe noticed that the time zones get smaller the further north you go.

A special congratulations to the Chevy Van (Pepe named Betsy) for tolerating the Dempster Hwy & Canada so well.

Next stop -- Fairbanks.

Day 14. Driving the Dempster

We decided to stay in Inuvik for the night. We found a nice campground about a miles south of town. They had good showers. We ate in Inuvik at the McKenzie Hotel. It seems the only retaurants are in hotels in Inuvik. Later that night, we celebrated our journey to the farthest point north you can drive with a beer or two.

We got up early, at 6:30am, grabbed a quick coffee in Inuvik, & started driving the entire length of the Dempster Hwy -- all 450 gravel miles. We timed the two ferries perfectly & only stopped for coffee, gas, & bathroom breaks. We changed drivers every 2 or 3 hours.

Along the way, we finally saw a small group of 4 caribou (too small to be called a herd). We also saw an eagle & a mother grizzlie & her 2 cubs. After 9 hours of concentrated driving, we conquered the Dempster in one shot.

We drove to Dawson City & stayed in the Bonanza Gold RV Park. We had a great dinner of salmon & halibut fish & chips. Later, we saw a can-can show at Diamond Tooth Gerties. Jim even got to dance on stage to the amusement of hundreds.

Day 11. Turning true North

We left Liard River on a long ride to Minto River, about 550 miles away. We left around 8:00am after a hearty breakfast. We had a long but good drive. Along the way. we saw a herd of Bison, a small black bear, a mother moose & small calf, & a long coyote.

We arrived at Minto River resort to find it closed. We headed 45 miles further north to Pelly Crossing & stayed at a closed Selkirk First Nation campground. It was already closed, so we stayed free next to the Yukon river. We had a roaring campfire just before the rains came.

We are 2 days away from our goal of Inuvik. We are nearly on the Dempster Hwy, a 500 miles gravel road to Inuvik.