SargeW
Site Team
We left White River and drove the into Tok, Alaska today. WOOHOO! Sorry, it just felt really good to see that sign that said "Welcome to the United States of America" when I crossed the border. I didn't go out bear hunting with Doc last night. I figured I survived the first night out, so I wouldn't push my luck. The last 50 miles or so of the Alaska Highway to the Alaska border REALLY sucks. It is a 35 to 40 MPH road at best, unless you want to unload your closets onto the floor (Diane was getting tired of rehanging all the clothes up at the end of the day.)
We rolled up to the Alaska border and were happy to see there was no one in line. I pulled up to the border agent at the window, ready for a third degree. Instead he was friendly and asked relatively few questions. How many people we had on board, (2 and a 1 dog) does she have her health certificate? (Yes, would you like to see it?) No, that's OK. Any weapons on board? (Yes, one shotgun) Do you have the Canadian paperwork? (Yes, here you go). I handed him the paperwork, he glanced at it and handed it back. "Thanks, enjoy Alaska!"
Wow, finally someone that made me feel that they wanted me to be there. It had to happen eventually. The whole process took about 3 minutes. Then as I pulled onto the Alaskan side of the highway, they must have taken pity on all the travelers that had just drove up that way from Canada. Because the next 14 miles of highway towards Tok is brand new, shiny black asphalt that felt like glass. Even when the new section ended, the rest of the road to Tok has some damage, but the repairs are already done, even if just filled with patches. The rest of the way in you can pretty safely travel 50 to 55 MPH.
The first thing I noted is that the fuel is a lot less here in Alaska so far. The station across the street from the RV park is selling Diesel for $4.26 a gallon. We paid about $5 a gallon at the last fill up in Yukon. We pulled into the Tok RV Village, just ahead of a Caravan. We paid about $45 a night for a 50 amp site (the first 50 amp site I have had in a while). It's is about 90' long and is shaded with Pine trees on both sides.
After not being able to get the Direct TV box to give me any coordinates in the Yukon I was curious to see if I would get the box to work here in Alaska. I plugged in the Zip Code of the park and the box popped up the AZ and EL. The elevation of the dish was only 11 degrees! Surprisingly the direction our RV space was pointed was straight towards the direction that the Direct satellite was supposed to be. I cranked up the dish and hit the satellite within seconds. Not a real high reading on the strength meter, only about 50 to 50 on the meter, but plenty strong to pull in the signal.
I also pulled out the Telus air card when crossed the border this morning. When we stopped at a roadside pull off for lunch I plugged the Verizon air card back into the router and turned it on. At about 10 miles from Tok we hit signal and Diane had internet the rest of the way in.
I think we may take the Jeep and drive to Chicken tomorrow just to look around. We probably will not drive into Dawson City, not on this trip. The sun is shining, there is light fluffy clouds and a light breeze blowing. So far so good!
We rolled up to the Alaska border and were happy to see there was no one in line. I pulled up to the border agent at the window, ready for a third degree. Instead he was friendly and asked relatively few questions. How many people we had on board, (2 and a 1 dog) does she have her health certificate? (Yes, would you like to see it?) No, that's OK. Any weapons on board? (Yes, one shotgun) Do you have the Canadian paperwork? (Yes, here you go). I handed him the paperwork, he glanced at it and handed it back. "Thanks, enjoy Alaska!"
Wow, finally someone that made me feel that they wanted me to be there. It had to happen eventually. The whole process took about 3 minutes. Then as I pulled onto the Alaskan side of the highway, they must have taken pity on all the travelers that had just drove up that way from Canada. Because the next 14 miles of highway towards Tok is brand new, shiny black asphalt that felt like glass. Even when the new section ended, the rest of the road to Tok has some damage, but the repairs are already done, even if just filled with patches. The rest of the way in you can pretty safely travel 50 to 55 MPH.
The first thing I noted is that the fuel is a lot less here in Alaska so far. The station across the street from the RV park is selling Diesel for $4.26 a gallon. We paid about $5 a gallon at the last fill up in Yukon. We pulled into the Tok RV Village, just ahead of a Caravan. We paid about $45 a night for a 50 amp site (the first 50 amp site I have had in a while). It's is about 90' long and is shaded with Pine trees on both sides.
After not being able to get the Direct TV box to give me any coordinates in the Yukon I was curious to see if I would get the box to work here in Alaska. I plugged in the Zip Code of the park and the box popped up the AZ and EL. The elevation of the dish was only 11 degrees! Surprisingly the direction our RV space was pointed was straight towards the direction that the Direct satellite was supposed to be. I cranked up the dish and hit the satellite within seconds. Not a real high reading on the strength meter, only about 50 to 50 on the meter, but plenty strong to pull in the signal.
I also pulled out the Telus air card when crossed the border this morning. When we stopped at a roadside pull off for lunch I plugged the Verizon air card back into the router and turned it on. At about 10 miles from Tok we hit signal and Diane had internet the rest of the way in.
I think we may take the Jeep and drive to Chicken tomorrow just to look around. We probably will not drive into Dawson City, not on this trip. The sun is shining, there is light fluffy clouds and a light breeze blowing. So far so good!