Now starting the second phase of our trip

Welcome to the end of our first of three phases of this Alaskan trip! We have spent about a month traveling from Lake of the Ozarks to Dawson Creek, British Columbia where we are beginning to meet our TRACKS tour group. The tour group is comprised of 19 rigs (motorhomes and fifth-wheels), mostly occupied by couples (and one very brave lady traveling alone) and nine furry children. The dogs range from chihauhas to one very large bull mastiff so Molly will have lots of company. That part of the trip will last for 40 days and will travel north on the Alaskan Highway, make a huge loop in Alaska and finally disband on August 19 in Stewart, British Columbia.

The third phase will take us down the Rocky Mountains, spending another couple of weeks in Canada then going through Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Wyoming (again), Colorado, Kansas and ultimately back to Missouri. We don't have any deadlines for that part of the trip, and we are planning it so that we can meet up with some friends in Colorado when timing is best for them. That part of the trip could take 4-6 weeks, but we will keep you posted.

So, just a quick history lesson. Dawson Creek is where the Alaskan Highway starts at "Mile Zero" and goes for 1,528 miles. It was built in 1942 in only 8 months right after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. It cost $140MM to build and took a total of 27,000 Canadians and Americans (mostly military) to get it built. Just imagine how this could be accomplished in this day?!?!

I'm attaching two pictures; the first of which was taken at the Mile 0 marker and the second is of the Kiskatiwan River. The current highway now bypasses an old curved wooden bridge, around 600 ft long, which is now on the "Old Alaskan Highway". On second thought, I'll also attach pictures of the bridge although you may just have to imagine how magnificient a structure it really is.

We leave on this part of the trip on Saturday, July 12 and we promise to update the blog as often as possible. We know that some of this trip is very remote and that even our cell phones won't work while we are in the Yukon Territory. As soon as we can get reliable WIFI access, we'll provide a post. We will also send out an invitation to view the log when we finish the 40 days as it takes a couple of days to get all the invitations out. Yahoo thinks I'm spamming you so I have to send it in small mailings. Meanwhile, keep this link as a bookmark and check in regularly if you want to follow along. Wish us well and keep your fingers crossed that the motorhome holds no surprises for us!