Here it is, Saturday morning, 9-15-07, and we are in Dawson City, Yukon Territory.  This is day 11 of my 20 day dream trip and things are going pretty well.

We started out from the Lynden Border Crossing and spent our first night at Cache Creek, BC.  We nearly ran into a herd of Bighorn Sheep late that afternoon!  The next night we stopped at Prince George and then on the next day to Dawson Creek, the actual start of the Alcan Highway.

We had problems with the 12 volt power system in our RV so the rental company authorized a brand new battery to be put in the rig at Prince George.  The 12 volt system controlled many items inside the RV, not the least of which was the fan for the propane furnace. If the fan did not turn on, a safety feature prevented the furnace from turning on.  No heat!

Also, a low battery warning system would start “chirping”  whenever the battery got low;  invariably it would start chirping about 3:30 AM and I would have to get up and start the main engine to recharge the coach battery.  Unfortunately, the new battery did not fix the problem;  more and more it looked like a power converter problem.  3 days later in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, the RV company authorized a repair of the converter system and I have had perfect power ever since,

After Dawson Creek, we headed North up the Alcan to Fort Nelson and Watson Lake.  We saw a fair number of caribou, buffalo, and some Stone sheep.  Whitehorse is the largest city up here (about 19,000 pop.) so we stalked up on provisions.  The next day we travelled to Haines Alaska, one of the  most scenic parts of our trip so far:  lots of mountains and glaciers.  The next morning we took the Alaska Ferry up to Skagway and re-connected with the Alcan Highway.

We spent that night at Haines Junction and travelled on to Tok Alaska the next day.  Yesterday, Friday, was our most harrowing part of the journey:  We travelled Northeast toward Dawson City on the “Top of the World” Highway.  Of the 200 mile trip, 60% of it was gravelled road with lots of potholes.  It was so bumpy, that at one point, one of our water containers started leaking water on the floor of our little home.  Finally, we reached the Yukon River and were ferried across to the town of Dawson City.

It’s kind of bleak here and you can tell that much of the town has shut down for the winter.  (Plywood nailed across the doors and windows of many businesses made it pretty obvious!)  We are doing laundry right now and will head South toward Carmacks and Whitehorse.  Sunday night, I am treating Terry by taking her to the “Inn at the Lake”  in WH.  It’s supposedly a 4 star lodge with a gourmet restaurant;  we’ll see.

Terry is a real trooper;  we both know this is my dream trip and not hers and she is hanging in there just fine.  Her dinners cooked over a little 3 burner propane stove have been excellent.

My time is about up on this computer.  It has been difficult to access email.  Only 3 locations over the last 11 days had a computer.  However, most of the RV parks had WiFi.  If I had a laptop,  it would have been easy to go online every night.  Oh well.

All in all, it has been an outstanding trip so far, with only minor aggravations.  I am totally enjoying this once in a lifetime journey.  It has been called “The Last Great Road Trip in North America” and I agree.

All for now,

Mike

Hey guys, just double click on the center of this video, and laugh away.  This video has no audio, but is funny because they are on the Alcan Highway when it wasn’t paved, hence the flat tire.  -Matt

We got a late start due to packing and email concerns but finally hit the road out of Lynden about 2:00 PM and arrived at our destination in Cache Creek, British Columbia about 7:00 PM; about 200 miles.  The trip was pretty, with pleasant weather.  Just north of Hope BC we passed an old guy on a pedal bike, towing a small bike trailer with a sign on the back that read “Ted’s Jet”.  In between the bike and the trailer was a gas engine so I’m guessing he had some sort of home made moped.

A little further on at the little community of Spences Bridge, I nearly ran into a herd of Bighorn sheep!  About 15-20 strong, they were crossing the highway working their way uphill.  This was probably about 6:00 PM.  As we started downhill toward Cache Creek, there were several fruit stands.

We arived at Brookside RV park about 7:00 PM and I registered with my reservation in hand.  Cost was $25.00 CN with full services (power, water, septic) but no TV.  I am using their internet and computer right now on Thursday morning so that is a nice touch.  They have nice free showers and toilets, all in a heated and well-lit restroom,  and also have a laundromat.  There are picnic tables, BBQ pits and an unheated pool.  They are not Good Sam or KOA but it is a nice park.

Tery and I spent the first night ORGANIZING!  It was too cool and windy to barbecue the steaks outdoors as we had planned so Terry cooked them indoors on our propane stove.  Very good!

Problem:  Of course, I had hooked up the landline for AC power right away when we got to Brookside.  The lights and power worked fine and we had our portable CD player going.  After dinner, I went to take a shower at the restroom, came back, and noticed the lights were very dim.  We had been on battery power the whole time and not AC!  We went to bed, totally in the dark, but comfortable.

This morning, I asked the manager to see if I actually had power at our AC hookup and he confirmed we did.  I unplugged and replugged the electrical connection and we had breakfast no problem.  However I suspect my “coach” batteries are drained and hope that when I start the engine and head North today toward Prince George, that the batteries get charged.

In fact, I hope my car engine starts today!  More later.

All for now,

Mike