Whitehorse to Random Campground

I left Whitehorse in the early afternoon because I wanted to explore a little. The reason I was okay with leaving so late is because it doesn't get dark until so late up here. The last thing I wanted was to be on the Alaska Highway in the dark.

Yesterday I gave my shocks a run for their money. It was frost heave day. Almost the entire ride was patchy rough road and frost heaves. I definitely spoke too soon about the quality of the roads. They were manageable, though. It wasn't so bad that I thought I might get a flat tire. All of the potholes had been filled recently and there were little orange flags in particularly bad sections to warn you. If you're going fast enough to not have time to react to the road when it's in that kind of shape, you deserve what you get. It was funny to see some of the maniacs coming from the other direction right after Whitehorse. They're probably from the area and know where the potholes are in the roads so they were flying right over the frost heaves, which are kind of fun. At first they were fun, then it got old really fast. Going over one after the other is like having broken shocks, if you've ever experienced that. Very bouncy.

I had a pretty uneventful wildlife time for most of the drive. I was starting to get a little annoyed because I really wanted to see some. Finally, when I was almost in Alaska I saw a bear. He was just hanging out on the side of the road. I stopped to take a picture - you can do that because you certainly aren't holding up any traffic. When I stopped he looked up at me for a second and then just went on with his business. He was probably 10 feet away from me or so and he didn't seem very big. When I snapped the picture he put his head down. Jerk. I'm sure I'll see more this summer, so I'm not too worried about it. I just hope I see the majority of them while I'm in vehicle or dwelling because I'm a big wimp.
I saw this bird flying alongside my car and I was really amazed by the pattern on the feathers. As I pulled ahead and saw its giant head I realized it was actually an owl. They look so silly flying, sort of like any second the weight of their giant head will send them into a nosedive tailspin.
When I reached Alaska, I stayed on the Alaska Highway by mistake and ended up driving 30 miles in the wrong direction. 30 stinkin' miles. If I had stayed on the road I would have ended up in Fairbanks, which is waaaay up there. Way up by the North Pole. Seriously, there is a town up there called North Pole, AK. Anyways, on my return trip from the 30 miles of stupidity, I saw a moose. I saw him trotting across the road from far away so by the time I got to where he was I looked into the woods and just saw his big bum. It's another animal that looks awkward, like it shouldn't be possible for them to function. Like the owl. Moose legs are so skinny compared to their giant body.
Another animal I saw a lot of was bunnies. Little tiny ones that sit on the edge of the highway and scamper away as you approach. I must have seen 50 of them. I came damned close to hitting one, which I wouldn't have been happy about. He was just sitting in the middle of the road as if there wasn't a car hurtling at them going 60mph. As I was approaching I assumed he'd run because all the others did so I kept straight. I also figured that going around him was a bad idea at that point because if he happened to run in the direction I was going to avoid him I'd be outta luck. He'd be outta luck, too. At the last second I ended up having to seriously swerve to avoid him.

I was dead tired after I got back on track and didn't have the energy to find a place to stay. I ended up coming across a park that I pulled into and I camped out there to get some sleep. I went to sleep around 11:30pm and it was still light out. Not bright light, though, more like dusk. When I woke up 3 hours later it was light out. I knew I was up for the morning so I just headed out since the roads had some light. I'll put my driving for today in a separate post.

I scared the hell out of myself with my gas situation. I've been letting it get down to a half tank and then I just stop at the next gas station I see, which could be an hour away at times. I stupidly passed by a gas station when I was right about on a half tank. I figured it was impossible for me to go so long without finding a gas station that I'd use a half tank of gas. 4 closed gas stations later, I was shaking in my boots. I'd see it from far away and get all relieved and then I'd get there and the shop would either be closed for good or just closed for the season I finally found a gas station right before the US border, which was a shame because the second I crossed the price was drastically lower.

I don't even want to go into how expensive gas was in Canada. I tried to use my debit card for all gas so that I can figure out how much I spent in total. I don't think I'm brave enough to do the math and find out for sure.