Memories from the Road

We drove to Alaska from St. Charles, Missouri in late September of '03, arriving in Anchorage on October 2. There were many interesting sights along the way, as anyone who's ever made the trek will attest.

Just some snippets of things that come back to me:

• Younger Daughter, having been told we'd drive through mountains on the trip, asked "Is that a mountain?" at every small rise on the roadside. For five days, until we reached the Canadian Rockies. When she finally saw real mountains, her face took on an "Ooooohhh" expression that lasted for hours.
• Older Daughter handing us CDs from her collection. The trip took seven days, and that collection got mighty old by the time we reached Anchorage ... but we'd have gone nuts without 'em.
• Not every place we stopped was, let's say, wholesome. There were a couple of places where we wouldn't let the girls use the bathroom. 
• Travelling after Labor Day, through Canada, confirmed what we'd been told: two out of three hotels, restaurants and gas stations were closed for the season (meaning until the following May). In fact, the advice we'd received was "never pass a gas station, because you don't know where the next one is. The hotel rooms go quickly, so get off the road by 5pm, because all the rooms will be booked by 6:00. Then you can find something to eat."
• Not all the hotels were particularly wholesome, either, but we only walked away from one that was too run-down to even consider. I should point out, however, that some of the hotels were spectacular; I don't mean to imply otherwise.
• Gas prices in Canada were all over the place - high, low, and everything in-between. As soon as we crossed the North Dakota border into Manitoba, my wife & I decided that "whatever it costs, it costs." Let Visa figure out the exchange rate, and just keep on truckin'.
• The Canadian people were very friendly. Everyone wanted to know where we were headed, since my truck was pulling our other car on a dolly, and it was stuffed to the gills - literally - with bedding and clothes.
• The best meal we ate on the whole trip was at Buckshot Betty's in Beaver Creek, Yukon Territory (about 16 miles from the Alaska line). The gal at the reception desk was the cook, too, and MAN she could cook!
• We knew that many in Alaska were less than thrilled about the growing population, but the most pointed reminder of that was about an hour north of Anchorage, on the last leg of the trip. There were three large, round hay bales on the side of the highway, with a banner painted in red letters: "Welcome to Alaska - NOW GO HOME."

But we stayed, anyway.