Rule Five Road Trip Friday

So, first, some housekeeping notes.

Later today, after I take care of some work chores, we’ll be loading our cargo trailer, packing up all of our remaining office equipment and supplies as well as what firearms and ammo I still have remaining in Colorado.  In fact, we’ll be packing truck and trailer with probably a third to half of all the stuff we’ll be hauling from Colorado up to the Great Land.

Next, posts:  Tomorrow we’ll have the Saturday Gingermageddon as usual.  Next week, instead of placeholders while we’re on the road, I’ll probably post some photos of random, interesting scenery along the 3.200 mile trip.  Normal posts should resume on either April 1 or April 2, unless we encounter some difficulty along the way.

Mrs. Animal and I always enjoy road trips.  We have taken a lot of them together over the last thirty years or so, and we inevitably end up talking, planning and laughing the entire trip, just like a couple of kids.  I guess we just enjoy being together, even (especially) after all this time, and given that this road trip is the penultimate act in the culmination of our twenty-plus year plans, it’s going to be even more fun.

And, of course, there’s the trip itself.  About half of the drive is on the Alaska-Canada Highway itself, which we’ve wanted to drive for years.  Problem is this:  Canada is hurrying people through right now because of the ‘rona, so no time for sightseeing, and frankly this isn’t the best time for that anyway, not to mention we’ll be towing a trailer and have a canoe tied atop the truck, so not the best vehicle configuration, either.  Not to worry; we have plenty of time, and we’ll plan to make the drive again sometime when we have time to sight-see.

Speaking of that drive, here’s how the itinerary looks, for any of you True Believers that might be curious as to how this works:

Day 1:  Denver, Colorado to Shelby, Montana.  Shelby is about twenty miles south of the Coutts, Alberta entry station into Canada.  So in the morning we’ll want to get an early start to deal with the bureaucracy at the border.

Day 2:  Shelby, Montana to Dawson Creek, British Columbia.  Dawson Creek is where the Alaska Highway proper begins.  I’ve done some reading about the town, and it seems like it would be a hell of a fun place to spend a few days, once the Kung Flu panic dies down.

Day 3:  Dawson Creek, British Columbia to Watson Lake, Yukon Territory.  This is where gas stations and so forth get thin on the ground, so it’s prudent to keep the tank topped up.

Day 4:  Watson Lake, Yukon Territory to Tok, Alaska.  Tok is where we leave the Alaska Highway, which continues (officially) to Delta Junction, while the highway continues up to Fairbanks.  Now we’re back into the States, and officially into the Great Land!

Day 5:  Tok, Alaska to our new home in Willow, Alaska.  This involves a trip down the Glenallen Highway, which is a gorgeous drive, and then through Palmer and Wasilla to home.

It’s going to be interesting and exciting!  Mrs. Animal will still have to fly back to Colorado to meet the movers to load the remaining stuff for the trip north, then to arrange for the Colorado house to be cleaned up and sold.  Denver real estate is crazy right now, so we expect to do well on that deal.  But when that’s done, she comes home, and we settle into our rural Alaska home for good.

So, stand by for news from the road!