Driving, Bumping, and Singing

An eagle watching over a meadow.

A young moose beside the road.

Driving back into the mountains.

Singing with Danny as he sings Willie Nelson's 'On the Road Again.' My new friends and I are singing back up.

Sunday, May 22
We had our lovely, huge cinnamon rolls for breakfast. We think Johnson Crossing should win a prize for their rolls, not as good as Grandma Fish's, but right up there.

We left Haines Junction and drove up to Alaska along the Kluane National Park. Mountains stayed on our left and we climbed back into patches of snow and caribou country. About half way to the border, we hit really bad roads with buckeling and permafrost and holes. We really had to slow down as you couldn't always tell when a big bump was coming. We saw motorhomes ahead of us come right off the road airborn. When we got to Tok, we found out several were in for repair from that stretch of the road.

Meanwhile, we drove along beautiful Lake Kluane, which was huge and still mostly frozen. Most of the resorts, etc. were still closed. We heard that things really fill up in about a week after Memorial Day. We passed a Dahl Sheep Nature Center and you could see the sheep way up on the side of the mountain.

The drive seemed to take forever even though it was pretty. We did see one moose off to the side grazing in a field and an eagle watching over a meadow.

There were no problems at the border and as usual, they loved Ben. After another long hour drive, we were in Tok, Alaska. We found a great campground just outside of town called The Sourdough Campground. We had dinner (Bob's - a huge burger on a sourdough bun) at their little cafe and quickly got to know people as they sat around chatting. They let us know the nights activities at the center of camp in the little open air pavillion with a bonfire pit beside it. At 7:00, there was a pancake toss. You got two tries to throw a pancake into a bucket and you'd get a free breakfast the next morning. We both missed, but one of the campers made it. Then a couple staying here for the summer provided the entertainment on the little stage at the end of the pavillion. Danny Lee sang Johnny Cash and other country songs and his wife sometimes took June Carter Cash's part. They were quite good and it was just fun. Ben curled up at our feet and listened too. Again, because it was still early in the season, there were only about 7 of us. (Brad, he also sang some Highway Men and some Merle Haggard.) Much to our surprise, one of the retired, work campers also named Bob, asked the singer to sing "The Music of the Night" from Phantom of the Opera. It turns out that he had studied some opera. He did an incredible job and I, of course, had tears streaming down my cheeks by the end. What a night to be sitting outside by the fire on our first night in Alaska listening to such great music. And then, Danny ended his show, since this was an RV Park, with Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again." Some of the others jumped on stage and they asked me to join. I said no twice and then thought, why not....so I did! I loved it! When it was over, we sat around the fire and chatted and heard stories till WAY past our bedtime. We're toughening up for sure! We truly want to stay here on our way home. Nice people! Great new friends!