Glenallen, AK

What would a day on the road be without some kind of mishap? I'll tell you about yesterday in chronological order:
We started off well, I was determined not to get a late start. The hotel, though expensive, was not very clean. I didn't even want to take my shoes off in the room, much less the shower. Right across from the hotel was the Signpost Forrest. This was started by a US Army soldier during the original build of the Alaska Highway. Now travellers stop and add their own signs. I wish I had known and had managed to appropriate a sign of my own to add. However, I do have to wonder and the wisdom of a town promoting the theft of signs..... At any rate, we left about 7:30 am and had to drive 30 minutes for breakfast. I'll have to make note of that place because the food was fantastic! My toast was homemade, whole wheat bread and the best I'd ever eaten. From there we drove over to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory for lunch. So far the day was going quite well. We started some laundry at the laundromat then went to McDonalds while the clothes were washing. We saw the news of the terror attack in Glasgow and were glad we hadn't been transferred to England. (We do have bases over there) After eating, Tater and I went back to finish the laundry while the rest went to Wal-Mart for more movies. While driving into Whitehorse we saw the S.S. Klondike. I didn't read up on it but it appears to be an old steam boat. What I do know is that area had some of the worst rapids in Canada until the river was dammed for hydroelectric power. When I have time, I'll read on on the history of that ship.
Finally, we got back on the road again. I was on driving duty for this segment and this is where the fun began. Right around this part of the drive we started running into highway with frost heaves. Meaning it's like driving on a roller coaster. The road is all fine and smooth then suddenly there are "waves" in the road. There were random patches with loose gravel. However, this is some beautiful country. I saw a black bear boogie into the woods, too fast for me to grab a photo. Next thing, my older two boys are telling me they hear "a sound". So, I pull over, and what do you know- one of the trailer tires has lost about a six by three inch section of rubber tread. Fortunately, Sgt Dad had the fore site to purchase a spare tire for the trailer. So, he and the boys changed the tire and we were off once again.
It was rough driving all day. When we finally stopped for dinner at the only place in town open, Buckshot Betty's, we nearly fainted when the bill for this Mom-n-Pop was $84. We were pretty tired, however, we soldiered on because our goal was to reach Tok, AK and spend the night in the USA. Again we had no difficulty crossing the border. They also didn't ask to see our animal's documents. Of course, had we not been fully prepared I'm sure we would have needed every single document that I had brought with us. At any rate, Canada is a beautiful country and the people were wonderful but it was nice to be back in the USA! (I'm such a partriot!)
We finally reached Tok about 10:45 local and there was only one hotel room available in town and it wouldn't take pets. Since we didn't want to leave the pups in the van over night, we drove on. This was tough driving. Sgt Dad laid down for a nap and I was fighting sleep, rain, and frost heaves. Additionally, we had forgotten to get gas and I was getting low. Around here, there aren't a whole lot of 24 hour places. It was approaching midnight, yet it looked like 8:30 because of the sky. The sun doesn't really fully set this time of year.
We finally got to Glenallen, paid $150 for the room and slept. Whew! I'm glad that day over.
We should reach Anchorage in 3 hours. I'm hoping for smooth highway for the remainder of the trip.
I'll keep you posted!