Fortunately the Truck Has Good Breaks!

Last you heard from us, Jennifer and I were in Dawson City, at the confluence of the Klondike and Yukon rivers. On our second day in Dawson City we drove the truck down to the city's waterfront and rode our bikes back to the campground. We then carried the kayaks to the Klondike river and floated down the Klondike to the Yukon and then to the truck. It was a wonderful day to be on the water with temps in the low 70's and a fast flowing current to take us where we wanted to go.


We left Dawson City and drove the "Top of the World Highway." After taking a two minute ferry ride over the Yukon river, the road became mostly gravel with spectacular views of the surrounding territory. We did have one slightly terrifying event occur on this leg of the trip. One of the bikes, while bouncing around in the back of the truck, unplugged the brakes for the trailer. Unfortunately, I didn't catch this until applying the brakes about halfway down the hill careening towards a sharp hairpin turn. I stepped hard on the brakes and was able to slow the truck enough to get around the corner. I stopped at the bottom of the hill. It was the first time I ever actually saw truck brakes smoke. We got the problem fixed and headed towards the boarder. After Jen successfully smuggled half a lime through customs, we were back home in America (because everyone knows Canada is NOT America).


We spent the night in Tok. Tok has plenty of hotels and RV parks but has absolutely nothing to do. Jen made us a smoked salmon and cream cheese crackers and we sat back to enjoy an episode of Sienfeld. On the very last bite of cracker, Jen gagged, got up, and ran into the bathroom. It turns out a fish bone was lodged in the hangy bally thingy in the back of her throat. She was successfully able to pull it out but succeeded in making herself throw up.


We are now in Fairbanks. Yesterday we decided to find a couple of geocaches. Our first one was on the edge of a graveyard. We got within 30 feet of our destination when the caretaker approached us. He asked if there was any grave in particular he could help us find. Jen nonchalantly replied, "We are just trying to get a feel for the history of the town." He then continued to tell us about one crazy day when a couple of women came to the cemetery looking for "Treasure." He told us all about geocaching and how people kept disturbing the resting souls trying to find a piece of paper to put their name on it with their GPSes. Needless to say, Jennifer and I looked at a few graves and then wandered off without ever finding our cache.




Today we loaded up the dogs and went into a local mushing store. Jennifer bought Fenway a warm dog coat to keep Fenway toasty on those long, cold winter days in Chefornak. I purchased Aipaq a mushing harness. When we returned to the trailer, I quickly harnessed up my dog and ran a line between her and my bike. She slowly walked around the campground pulling me behind her unsure of what to make of the ridiculous contraption she was strapped into. After giving her a chance to rest Jennifer rode her bike in front of me and Aipaq ran at a lightening pace trying to catch up. Hopefully after a few more rides she will learn to pull with all her heart (and strength).



That's the news from our trip so far. Until next time!



K.C.