Wednesday August 11

Stocked up for the long drive south at Wal-Mart and headed for the Canadian border. On the way out I stopped at a place the guard at the Air Force base recommended called the Knotty Shop. With the advertisement in the Mile Post you could get a free ice cream…..which I, of course, did. It was big and good……so big I couldn’t finish it.

Also drove through another curious town called North Pole, AK. The place is Christmas all year. Every pole in town is striped like a candy cane. All the roads all like Santa Claus lane, etc, even the DPW building was candy cane striped. Another odd twist was that their mascot was the Patriot. They used the exact logo that the New England Patriots use.

Lost an hour today leaving Alaskan Standard Time. In total I drove about 8 hours today. While driving on a gravel road a truck blew past me and showered me with rocks resulting in a chip on the windshield in one spot and a full on crack in another. I was actually surprised it hadn’t happened sooner.

Some cool stuff I saw today included some swans, a coyote, and many moose. The highlight of the day was watching a large wolf check out the area all around the camper.

The drive through the Youkon is desolate and wonderful.