7/25/1991 - Thursday

John:  Well, it was very cloudy this morning and yucky, so we decided to hit the road.  We ran out of propane last night some time, so had to get some today.  We had planned to camp at Flathead Lake, but the sky was full of major black clouds, so we stopped and got a few groceries and hit the road again.  Flathead Lake was quite nice and big.  We saw a nice bald eagle flying in Montana just outside of Missoula.  We drove 181 miles today.  We also washed the truck today with a car wash that did soap... (all the car washes in Alaska & Yukon only had water.)  The truck looks good!  We are camped at Beavertail State Recreation Area in Ravenna, Montana.  Nice private wooded spot.  Plan to make a fire, as there was some wood left here.

ODOM:  30933

7/9/1991 - Tuesday

John:  We drove158 miles on the Top of the World Highway to Dawson City.  It rained and snowed on us along the way.  The rain eliminated any dust problem, but created muddy roads for 200 miles.  The truck was very muddy.  We ran out of propane and waited for almost an hour for the guy who does propane to wake up in Chicken, Alaska population = 25!  He never woke up, so we put our stuff into our ice chest and split.  We didn't get the full effect of the scenery due to the clouds, fog, rain & snow.  We had to take a free ferry to cross the Yukon River to get to Dawson City.  Dawson City is all dirt roads with old old buildings.  We arrived after the bank closed, so we had to find a place to stay, as we need to convert some money.  We had just enough Canadian money left over to get the camp spot (lovely parking lot), wash the main mud off the truck, and to have a pizza in town.  While at the pizza joint, Peter and Betty walked in!  We didn't have a chance to talk much as they couldn't get in the restaurant because it was so crowded... maybe we’ll catch up with them tomorrow.

ODOM:  28358

Kari:  I found a pair of moose antlers today, but I could not keep them.  That ferry boat ride we went on today was barely any fun because it was so short.

On board the Hwy 9 Ferry.

Hwy 9 Ferry.

6/28/1991 - Friday

John:  We drove 335 miles today.  I washed the last five layers of mud off the truck in Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory.  The truck stayed clean for about an hour.  We drove for miles & miles of this miniature forest.  The Alaskan Highway was pretty slow traveling... Due to the frost heaves... Some times 20MPH was too fast.  I gave the brakes & suspension on the truck a real work out today.  We are back in Alaska and staying in a wild life preserve called Dead Man’s Lake.  Very private spot.  We haven’t seen any moose or bears yet!

ODOM:  26956

Note:  Broke the wind shield.

Kari:  We saw a brown bunny rabbit and I spilled my pop in the truck ‘cause of the bumpy road.

Karen:  The weather here is warmer than I thought it would be.  It doesn’t get as cool in the evenings as Colorado.  There’s so much daylight.  It’s light at 3:30 A.M.

Susan & Kari leaning on a totem pole in Sitka, AK

"Miniature Forest"