Dawson Creek - Yukon Border

I don't even know where to begin, so I will start by extending greetings from Yukon Territory.

After 600+ miles today, we limped (mentally anyway) into Watson Lake at around 8 p.m. with just a hint of light left. I prayed we'd make it here before dark, and we did. The second hotel we stopped at we got the second to the last room. We will all sleep really well tonight.

We started out our day by leaving Dawson Creek, Mile 0 of the Alaskan Highway. (Bren and I risked serious bodily injury to get pics of this official marker. We had to stand in the middle of the street during morning rush hour. I'm such a good mother...but that's another blog post.)

As usual, Rick drove the first leg of the journey. The road was long and mountain-free (see center pic) so we made real good time. We stopped for lunch at Subway at Williams Lake which was absolutely beautiful. It was breezy and cool and the trees rained down their yellow leaves, announcing fall's arrival. It was glorious.

I took over the driving after lunch and almost immediately hit mountains. BIG mountains. With narrow lanes, gravel shoulders (if there was a shoulder at all), and it rained violently. I averaged about 40 mph for a long long time. Meanwhile, Rick snoozed at my side, and when he finally woke up he said "I'm not letting you drive anymore. Everytime you drive we hit bad road conditions!" It's true too! I've had the worst of the driving during this whole trip. Good thing I'm a good driver, eh? hehe

After the death-grip-on-the-wheel-pray-without-ceasing driving was done, Rick took over the driving after a rest break and then I was able to really appreciate the incredible scenery. The fall foilage is at it's peak right now and the moutains were draped in colorful splendor. The mountain rivers and lakes were brilliant and the wildlife plentiful.

We counted:

7 deer
1 caribou
1 road kill deer
2 bucks
2 reindeer
6 stone sheep
a herd of bison
1 small black bear

Unfortunately, Bren ran out of Dramamine yesterday, and so far all evidence points to the non-existence of the substance in British Columbia. So, she spent most of today feeling very ill because of the almost constant winding, bumping, and climbing on the road.

We had a great stop at Toad River Lodge, but paid $70 U.S. for a HALF tank of gas! That was the pits, but I'll tell you, Toad River is much to beautiful to be named Toad River.

During the threee times I had a signal on my cell phone today, I called and talked to my mom and sister, and texted my brother. It was good to be able to say hi and hear their voices.

Thanks for all your comments. I LOVE coming into the hotel at night and logging on and seeing I have comments and emails. And Gene, you can email me at donna66 [at] gmail [dot] com.

I love you all. Thanks again for all your love and prayers.

This is Donna, reporting (almost) live from Yukon Territory.