June 24th, 2012 From Tok to Delta Junction and
Rika’s Roadhouse
We got out of Tok late, not till ten am. The days plan was
to drive to Delta Junction and then to spend the night at Rika’s Roadhouse. It
was only a drive of one hundred and ten miles so we didn’t feel any rush. The
wind had come up but surely it doesn’t blow hard here?
So we stared up the last stretch of the Alaskan Highway and
at first the road was really good. However we entered a stretch of damaged road
and gravel and we slowed down to our usual forty five miles per hour. It was
good that we were going slowly as a cow moose ran out of the brush and I had to
do a panic stop as the calf was just behind her. Luckily we all were ok and we
continued on aware of suicidal moose.
The drive parallels the Alaskan range but we were really in
their shadows and so we couldn’t see any of the really big peaks. We crossed
quite a few rivers, braided rivers really, as their channels were filled with
coarse rock and they didn’t have the water to form a single path.
Before we reached Delta Junction the wind increased with
gust over forty and driving became somewhat scary. We talked of staying in the parking lot at
the End of the Alaskan Highway Monument but decided to take the north bound
road to Rika’s Roadhouse.
Pulling into the lot we were greeted by a volunteer who
answered all our questions, including where to park. As is usual here, the boon
docking is simply a big parking lot with a pit toilet, but we did get to tour
the historic roadhouse and so it was five dollars a night camping well spent.
The Delta wind has subsided now and so tomorrow we will make
another short drive to Fairbanks, where we plan to fix some stuff on our fifth
wheel and play tourists, Time to grab the binoculars and see if we can see some
birds. Clear skies
ps Rika's Roadhouse is a must see if you are intrigued about settling Alaska. We also stopped and bought meat at the Alaska Meat Company, including reindeer steaks and lots of sausage
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