Now in Fairbanks

WATSON LAKE TO WHITEHORSE TO TOK TO FAIRBANKS
6/22-6/25

Being in a different town each night has me very confused and because I haven’t had internet access and because I have been lazy, I have not posted in a few days. In summary, on Friday we drove from Watson Lake, YT to Whitehorse, YT. We spent the night in the Wal-mart parking lot with about 50 other rvs. Whitehorse has a nice trail system and I ran 5 miles and walked 1.5 miles.

Hollie had to get some work done on his cat trike and the repair people told us that they have about 2 months of Summer and during that time, the bike shop is extremely busy. They had a sign on the door indicating that they would do repairs, etc only by appointment, but the repair guy *wanted* to work on the cat trike so we got the work done without an appointment. There is something to be said for having a unique trike.

Yesterday we had planned to drive from Whitehorse to Beaver Creek, but decided to go on to Tok which has a much nicer campground and a trail on which we could run/walk/bike. This 400 mile section of the Alaska is the absolute worse. There are many sections of gravel and there are sections of pavement which have “heaves” that make it somewhat like a roller coaster ride. We try to get behind a large RV and watch what is happening to their rig so we can attempt to avoid the big bumps and dips.

We finally solved a mystery that has been bugging us for a couple of days. We have been having a brown granular material appear on the floor of the trailer. We could not figure out what it was or where it was coming from. Tonight I emptied cabinets and discovered that the lid had come off a jar of instant coffee and it was all over the floor of the cabinets and had migrated to areas that are impossible to reach with a small broom. It will take a vacuum cleaner to get it out and I do not have one with me. We’ll have to see if a car wash has a vacuum with a long enough hose to reach the area.

We stayed last night at the ToK RV Center which is a large RV park with 120 spaces in an area with lots of trees and the showers were very large, clean and the water was hot. Because the sun does not set until about 2:00 am, I found myself not realizing it was after midnight when I finished my shower. Then, the sun comes back up at about 4:00 am so Hollie and I are both a bit more confused than usual. I’m especially time challenged because I’ve misplaced my watch and we have not had cell service until today in Fairbanks. I usually depend on my phone to keep me abreast of the time. Alaska time is 4 hours earlier than Hattiesburg.

This morning we left Tok and made the 200 mile drive to Fairbanks with plenty of time to workout. I found a really nice track and did a good speed workout. I had attempted speed a couple of days ago and it was pretty pitiful, but that was a combination of sitting/riding too many hours and the fact that I was not on a track. This track was as nice as any that I have seen in quite a long time. The surface was ideal of distance runners in that it was very soft.

Tomorrow we will get our truck serviced and probably stay here another night. Then we will go to Talkeetna or Danali as we attempt to get a clear view of the mountain.