Day 13: Alaska Highway part 2; Yukon part 1

From: Muncho Lake Provincial Park, BC

To: Whitehorse, Yukon

We got up bright and early to the sun rising over our beautiful mountains. We had breakfast in the lodge restaurant with huge windows overlooking the compound, lake and mountains. Come to find out, this place is quite a resort. You can charter flight-seeing tours, fishing trips, and combinations that last all day or just a portion. There’s tent campsites, RV spots and glaciers nearby.

Before leaving we strolled the grounds and waterfront once more to take in the views and smell. The pups wore their vests outside for the first time, and they needed them as Jayne informed us that it was 17 degrees outside (we haven't found puppy boots yet).

Not ten minutes on the road we spotted up ahead something Nathan has been itching to see this entire trip: a bear. It was a medium sized black bear running across the road. Too far away to get a good picture, Heather didn’t want to get any closer thinking that this was a cub and momma wouldn’t be far away. Nonetheless, it was a fun sighting, and watching it run was exciting. (Heather thought it was fluffy and cute as it hopped across our path.)

The Alaska Highway’s beauty continued to unfold beyond our windshield (which was cracked a little today by a rock thrown from an 18-wheeler) throughout the day. We happened upon a few more buffalo today. Some congregating in bunches alongside the road, and a few lying alone on a random scrap of nowhere beside the road. Lola wants her a buffalo to play with.

It was another absolutely beautiful day. The temperature got above freezing only for a little bit. Mostly, it was cold, the road was dry, but the snow on the side of the road wasn’t melting anytime soon.

We drove through a random river of fog between some mountains. It hovered slightly above the trees creating a cool canopy effect. Other than that, the sky was clear and we could see for miles.

The driving continued with occasional stops for gas or to snap a quick picture. We also had to make a quick stop so that Heather could pull off the road and finish laughing at Nathan before she drove off the side of the mountain. See what had happened was…Nathan was trying to read The "Voyage of the Dawn Treader” out loud during the drive. He had been having a little trouble getting tongue tied and in an announcing tone he started reading the third chapter which begins “Land in sight…”. Well, instead of reading what was on the page Nathan (in a very enthusiastic voice) read “Land and shite…”. There was a second of silence followed by hysterical laughing. Heather was laughing so hard she was crying and Nathan laughed even more as she made it known that she was laughing so hard her “cheeks were making her eyes close!” This is indeed why she felt it necessary to pull over. It seemed that driving the Alaska Highway with ones eyes closed was not the best idea. After this moment of hysteria we regained composure and continued on. Ahh, good times.

We arrived just before dark in Whitehorse, found another Best Western (the Gold Rush Inn) and made camp for the night (even got a Milepost discount). When we say, “made camp,” we actually mean it. We ate hot dogs and beans from our camping supply (room had a microwave) followed by a cup of hot chocolate, Mmmm.