Whitehorse, YT to Tok, Alaska--June 21-June 22

As we left Whitehorse, the road became a little worse, but the highway department was diligent in putting orange flags near the frost heaves and rough road so you knew bumps were ahead.
Not too far out of Whitehorse we saw a sign for open range livestock. Just a little farther and we saw people stopped along the side of the road looking at something. As we neared, we saw three horses by the side of the road.We had seen horses before so we couldn't figure why there were so many viewers.....Until we looked a little bit beyond the horses and saw the young brown bear (grizzly) watching the horses. The horses were belled and each time one of them moved, the bear looked excited. Just after I snapped the picture of the bear, it leaped and swiped the air with its giant paw as if it wanted to play with the horses!We kept on driving--we knew it would be a long day. We wouldn't make Alaska that evening, but the next day was a sure thing!

We passed the visitor center for Kluane National Park (Canada) as we were on gravel road in a road construction area and it was difficult to make the turn. We stopped for the night at Congdon Creek Yukon Government Campground about 5 miles further down the highway . It was near the creek, but Kluane Lake was right there!It was cloudy over the mountains--it looked like the mountains pulled part of the clouds down next to them to keep warm.
Bob washed the bugs off the front of the rv--at some point we must have driven through a swarm of bees as they outnumbered all other insects this day.
The next morning, the lower clouds were gone and we had a great view of the mountains.The closest town was Destruction Bay--population 55. At this point the road really deteriorated and the highway department didn't have enough orange flags to mark the bad places!Along our route we had to make a stop at Burwash Landing--they claimed to have the largest gold pan. But wait, Quesnel, BC claims to have the largest gold pan! Look at the pictures and decide for yourselves!
Lunch time found us pulling over in a Yukon Recreation Area near a small lake. While we were talking to a couple who also stopped, we started hearing a bird making noises as if it wanted to be noticed. We looked around and at the top of a nearby tree we spotted a young bald eagle! He never left his spot. More people came and he quieted down as we pointed him out to everyone!Next along our drive we passed through a portion of the Tetlin Wildlife Preserve. We saw swans nesting in one of the ponds. If you click on the picture, you can count the cygnets--they are not included in our animal count, just the adults.Finally, the Alaskan border is getting closer, but wait....there is more road construction! It is 18 miles from the Canadian checkpoint to the American checkpoint. The "Welcome to Alaska" sign is at the real border halfway between the two. We were not able to stop for the "Welcome to Alaska" sign because were on a one lane dirt road (construction) headed toward the American Customs area! I was able to snap the sign because we were traveling very slow.We had no trouble crossing the border. After we left customs, a worker from USDA came on board to check our produce and then we were on our way in ALASKA!!!

It was an uneventful drive if you consider a gravel and dirt road to be uneventful. We finally made it to Tok, Alaska!We stopped in the visitor center before heading to the Chevron station across the highway to fill and wash the rv. After all the dirt, the car and the rv were filthy.We spent the night behind the Chevron station (free camping with fill-up). This was the first time we had used our air card for internet since leaving the states!

The next morning Bob had the oil changed in the rv. We looked around in the shops. As we were checking out of All Alaska Gifts, the clerk asked Bob if he was from DeLand (he had on his DeLand shirt). Yes, and yes we know Rosalie! She worked in the shop last summer. So Karen, tell Rosalie the clerks remember her well!

Then it was back to the rv and on to Valdez, Alaska. But wait, Bob thought the car wasn't tracking right so I got out--not exactly--the step was just swinging! I carefully jumped down, Bob moved the rv a bit, the car was tracking right, but the step was kaput! The arm holding it in place had broken!

We decided to be careful and use the step stool to get in and out until we could repair the step. Bob put bungee cords around the step to hold it in and then it was on to Valdez!