Dynatrekkin'

Come along with us!

Day 169 / June 8, 2024

Posted by

Ember Hutton

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Do you want the good news or the bad news first?

The good news is that today was the day that we crossed back into the US. 🥳. The bad news is that the Alaska Highway wasn’t quite over even once we were in the US. 😭

It was a border crossing morning so that meant we had to make applesauce and guacamole to use up all the illegal contraband.
Almost there – let’s do this!
Please don’t make me go for another car ride today. 🥺
The road from Destruction Bay to the border was BAD. It was the worst we had encountered and our average speed was only about 30 mph for the entire 200+ mile drive. We learned that the reason for the frost heaves and deep potholes is because the road is built on permafrost. These pipes are part of an experiment to study the effects of slowing the thaw of the permafrost by venting the surface of the road.
The offline map doesn’t lie. We made it!
The International Boundary Commission has kept this 20 foot swath of land along the 141st meridian on the US/Canada border clear since 1904.
One foot in the US, one foot in Canada
We met the coolest couple while we were taking pictures at the sign. (Hi Bill and Diana!) They are super adventurous and it was fun to hear their epic plans for Alaska. After chatting for a while we realized that we would be at the same campground tonight.
Proof that you CAN ride in a vehicle without the internet to entertain you. 🤯
Of course I did. 📸
We had another easy trip through customs. The border agent asked us where we were traveling to (umm Alaska), how long we’ll be there (all summer), if we brought anything from Canada (groceries), and if we had noticed the wildfires we’d driven past in the area (yes). He wanted to see each of the kids and did not even ask about the dog.
The roads were absolute perfection immediately after we crossed into the US and we were feeling quite a bit of patriotism at this point. 🇺🇸
A mile or two down the road we noticed the telephone poles literally sinking into the ground as we went past.
And quickly the roads turned back into the disaster we had become accustomed to for the remainder of the drive to Tok (rhymes with joke). 😣 We heard the Alaska Highway described as, “seconds of serene driving punctuated by minutes of sheer terror” and we had to wholeheartedly agree.
The squirrels in the campground were absolutely tormenting Riggs and he couldn’t get enough of it. We spent some more time chatting with our new friends from the Alaska sign.
Then we ended up going out to dinner with Bill and Diana at Fast Eddy’s Restaurant. It was the only restaurant in Tok but anything tasted good after that drive! The kids had some well deserved milkshakes for surviving the drive to Alaska! 🥤

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Ember Hutton Avatar

About the author

Hi! I'm Ember and I love traveling and photography but not so much organizing said adventures and pictures. Chronically blogging in past tense. :)

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