"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime." - Mark Twain

WHY? (Randy's Justification)

Shortly after Bethany and I got married, I was assigned a few FUDS (Formerly Used Defense Sites) projects to investigate in Alaska in the summer of 2002 (this is what I do for the government' https://www.mvs.usace.army.mil/Missions/Centers-of-Expertise/Environmental-and-Munitions/Research-and-Technical-Services/).  As I discussed it with my colleagues, it turned out both me and one of my work buddies (Kirk James) both had a romantic notion of driving the Alaska-Canadian (ALCAN) Highway built by the U.S. Army Corps of the Engineers in 1942, camping along the way.  Given we had to go to Alaska for work, the TDY plane fare would more than pay for the cost of the gas and camping, so the only factor was leave, which we both had lots of.  Neither Bethany, nor Kirk's wife Jennifer, who also worked with me, had any desire to go but were both more than willing to let us have our boys adventure.  They agreed to fly to Anchorage and meet us up there for the non-camping portion of the vacation.  We were both excited and anticipated the trip over beers multiple times in the Fall of 2001.

Then on Christmas Day, Bethany gave me the best present: the news she was pregnant, having just confirmed it.  The contemporary recount of the story is:
"the joyful news that morning using the plastic stick method.  Lacking a decent scriptwriter for all such momentous occasions in life, Randy's reaction was an ineloquent, muddled statement of surprise and happiness.  It wasn't ten minutes before it dawned on him, that his long dreamed of and anticipated ALCAN highway road trip to Alaska the following summer probably wouldn't happen, having once again jinxed it by mentioning the prospect in the annual Year End Letter.  He cheered himself up with the thought that he would hold the forthcoming offspring responsible for taking/accompanying him there sometime in the future." http://rbjc.wgtuxedopark.info/Pregnancy.htm#week5

Kirk and I still went to Alaska that July, a week on Adak in the Aleutians was terrific (http://rbjc.wgtuxedopark.info/Adak.htm) but I didn't spend a month getting there camping along the ALCAN.  I got home from that work trip with a week to spare before Jane was born 5 weeks early. 

Over the years, the ALCAN trip plan evolved to include child number 2 as well, even though it wasn't her fault either.  The trip timing came down to when the girls could share the driving while limiting pre-college summer jobs and experiences.  Ergo, 2019 when Jane was almost 17 and Cate was 15 with a learner's permit (and a whopping 3 hours of experience beforehand).

There's more to it than that though.  Multiple cultures have some form of a rigorous Rites of Passage into adulthood, particularly for males that has long fascinated me.  Oddly in the absence of such a cultural ritual, young men will make up difficult ordeals or quests to recognize the change from being an outsider, neophyte to full member in good standing.  On at least one occasion, I stressed at length to a friend that he should take his son on significant adventure when he was 13-15, along the lines of a float trip down the Missouri or Mississippi Rivers, a la Huck Finn.  I convinced myself more than I did him however.  Fears of something going wrong on such a trip without others, pushed the raft adventure to the side for me as well.

And yes, I'm aware that women don't really need to invent the silly rites of passage primarily because biology provides its own clear rite of passage to womanhood.  As our children were girls…er women, was this remotely necessary?

Yes.  Our cultural is way past the time when marrying off young teenage women is acceptable even in the rural parts of the country (insert judgmental snark of less affluent and educated portions of the local geography).  Our cultural norms have developed an expectation of prolonged adolescent and that adulthood doesn't really start until ones early 20s (or later).  While marrying latter is probably smart, I'm not sure about the wisdom of the other aspects of this.

Anyway, I wanted to push the girls past many of their comfort zones to become more resourceful, resilient, flexible, embracing of the unplanned, unknown and mild adventure. 



Other goals:
By doing the driving, I wanted them to see that we all needed to share the load or in the metaphor or Lessons from Geese: When the lead Goose gets tired, he rotates back in the wings and another Goose takes over. It pays to share leadership and take turns doing hard jobs.

Making thrifty decisions on travel and nurturing their sense of Wanderlust, I wanted them to learn the siren call of the highway, the Song of the Open Road
When the road is your mistress, time at home can be a cruel confinement of responsibility, domestication and good citizenship. Creativity is stifled, and a layer of ennui engulfs your life, seducing you to a passive acceptance of the commonplace and suppression of dreams. But late at night, if you listen, you can hear her whisper "Come to me. Come to me." Don't deny her, the Open Road. http://rbjc.wgtuxedopark.info/Travel.htm

"I have found out there ain't no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them." - Mark Twain

I also didn't want them to hate me during the trip or afterwards.  Ergo, LOTS of camping was mixed with a hotel room often enough for a hot shower every few days and as it turns out, multiple stops at cafes for Wi-Fi and power to keep all their media gear going and be able to stay-in-touch with friends, after all they are Gen Z types.  To be honest the power and Wi-Fi didn't make me suffer too much either.

Anyway, Jane and Cate grew up with this Road Trip hanging over their heads to which they had regular mixed feelings as it was presented as an obligation of birth and not a choice.  They also had fears, not completely unfounded based on other road trips, that their dad would go complete Clark Griswold on them from the original National Lampoon Vacation:

Clark: Y'know what I think??? I think you're all fucked in the head! We're ten hours from the fuckin' fun park and you want to bail out. Well I'll tell you something, this is no longer a vacation...it's a quest. It's a quest for fun! I'm gonna have fun and you're gonna have fun! We're all gonna have so much fuckin' fun we'll need plastic surgery to remove our goddamn smiles! You'll be whistling Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah out of your assholes!!! HAHAHA!!! I gotta be crazy' I'm on a pilgrimage to see a moose! Praise Marty Moose! Holy shit!!!
Rusty: [touching Clark's shoulder] Dad you want an aspirin or something?
Clark: Don't TOUCH!

Preparation and Planning

So, with 17 ½ years to plan this, Randy read scads of books, articles and web travel posts' researched the route and had it all figured out, right? No.  Except for a 3 person Eureka tent for the girls, picked up on some super sale and given as a Christmas present a year and a half out, literally the only preparation for the trip was the brainwashing of the girls their entire lives.  That is unless you count opting for an extra drivetrain insurance package offered when we purchased our Chevy Traverser in February 2016.  Fears of significant mechanical failure in the wilds of northern Canada and Alaska seemed enough of a real risk to shell out for the insurance package that isn't generally not recommended by consumer groups.  Randy took this thinking of looming road hazards even further by specifically NOT getting the cracked windshield on the Traverse replaced for a year and a half because it was a near certainty, we would be doing it again when driving along all that gravel highway don't you know? Without giving away too much, exactly one small rock hit the windshield during the whole excursion, a per mileage rate far less than on the roads and potholes of Missouri offer after the regular winter freeze thaw in March-April.

Over the 2018-2019 Holiday break, Randy ordered a copy of the Milepost, which for the last seven decades has been an ever expanding guide book / travel reference bible for the ALCAN and for Alaskan road travelers.  The Milepost offers detailed mile-by-mile descriptions of multiple routes to and through Alaska (actually tenth of a mile by tenth of a mile).  At an inch and a half thick, of course he didn't read it ahead of time but only flipped through the introduction.  Still it was comforting to have it and it definitely proved its worth multiple times along the way, particularly locating camping sites when we were ready to stop for the day.  An attempt was made to book camping spots at the Canadian National Parks but bookings weren't allowed until 9 January, at which point it was put off for serval months. 

Solidification of a plan came only after booking travel on the Alaskan Marine Highway System (AMHS) in mid-February.  The AMHS has a great and detailed web page allowing you to book well in advance, reserving your space and space for your car.  Of course in keeping with the lack of pre-planning, it was only after consulting the site in detail did the cost register that leaving Whittier, just an hour and a half southeast of Anchorage and taking the ferry down to Washington State (Bellingham) with 4 people and a Traverse was going to be several thousands of dollars (even without a sleeping cabin).  Clearly this would be the most major cost of the trip

This realization forced some serious rethinking of the trip.  It was at this point Bethany backed out of the plan to meet us in Anchorage and join us for the return trip.  It was never her dream road trip or vacation and the costs for an adult to ride the ferry between Whittier and Bellingham was roughly equivalent to an actual cruise (inside state room at off times) but this was NOT going to include a room or extravagant meals of a cruise ship.  Furthermore, the thought of her living by herseslf for over a month didn't suck either (working on getting the Goff house ready to sell was causing lots of family stress).  The next concession was minimizing the time on the ferry to only the inland passage of Alaska going from Haines and getting off at the first spot in British Columbia, Prince Rupert (roughly a third of the original thought).  Booking the fare for that greatly reduced maritime route costs for one adult, two teens and a Traverse to right at $1200.  Booking the AMHS dates provided the structure of when for the rest of the trip would occur.  That and theatre tickets for the premiere on 30 May to see the musical Be More Chill that Cate discovered and loved and Jane got her tickets for as a Christmas present. 

Booking the camping spots was blown off for another couple months until late April, almost too late for scoring camping spots at the National Parks: Banff, Jasper and Denali.  Still I consciously tried to limit the number of planned stops to only those locations where they were likely not going to be any camping spots if we waited.  It worked out pretty well.

Be More Chill St. Louis premier

ALCAN Day 1 - Destination Fargo, ND

Padawane Jane driving with the Force (i.e., blind)	Padawane Cate using the Force at 80 mph

We spent most of the day spent driving US 52 through North Dakota.  Traveling along US 52 from to Minot, and I got to thinking of Minot's AFB missile mission and wandering if I would be able to recognize any of the sites.  Within moments of that thought I saw a small unfenced enclosure several hundred feet from the highway a couple miles outside of Balfour. A check of the satellite view from Google Maps confirmed it, I noted an hour later one.  At the hotel that evening, the Wikipedia entry for the Minuteman-III based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGM-30_Minuteman#Ground_and_air_launch_targets} overall depictions of the 91st Missile Wing's layout and I a half an hour readily finding about 5% of the total before deciding to call it quits.  The girls were not impressed to know they were within 500 feet of a nuclear missile, like that happens every day.


It did remind me of our last trip to Dakota (South) five years earlier in 2014, when we visited the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site just outside the Badlands NP and nuclear weapons came.  That story went like this:
the east entrance at I-90 there was a temporary Visitor Center for the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site.  Randy wanted to stop by for a bit just to see it but the girls took an interest.  We watched the short film and they set about getting their first Junior Ranger badges of the trip.  We spent close to an hour there and had quite the lively 20-minute talk in the van on I-90 about doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD).  They had a copy of Dr. Seuss's Butter Battle Book at the Visitor's Center to help kids understand the counterintuitive rationale for the Cold War.  We struggled with getting an example they could get their minds around of a stand-off where both sides would lose.  Our first examples came up lame as one of them kept saying something like "but I would want to get wet with a Super Soaker".  Randy finally compared it to when he would settle their arguments in the past by insisting, they stop hitting each other and that each girl should grab a handful of the other's hair and at the count of three yank as hard as they could.  As mad as they were at one another, they never took him up on the suggestion and never yanked their hair.  With this example, they got the idea behind the MAD doctrine.

At the Minot, we stopped at the Old Navy to get Jane a pair of jeans as she didn't pack any much to her father's vexation.  They had some $1 scarves and a rugby on the clearance racks and we felt good about scoring some bargains (Why not in Minot?).  Grabbed some lunch at Panera and continued on our way with Jane at the wheel as she insisted she be the one to talk to the border guard as neither of the girls trusted dad not to make inappropriate jokes with the border patrol based on his personal account of crossing over in 1985 and getting detained for over an hour after laughing at the guard's question of where was St. Louis in response to where we were headed (you know because Canadian knows where all the NHL teams are).  We crossed over into Canada at the very sad little community of Portal, ND after gassing up in the land of low gas taxes.  Once on Canada highway 39 we stopped amongst the strip mines of Coalfields, Saskatchewan to appreciate the other worldly quality of the despoiled lands. 

Scenic Canada? - strip mines spoil berms and oil fields

We got into Regina, Capital of Saskatchewan, early enough to catch the last tour of the Legislature Building.  It was interesting to hear the differences and similarities to the State Capitals we've visited over the years.  Cate: "Wouldn't it be great that every time you visited a place, they would put up a plaque in your honor?" upon seeing the 3 plaques to Queen Elisabeth (1 for I and 2 for II). 

Outside the Capital of Saskatchewan	Inside the Parliment room

Afterwards, we visited the Real Canada Superstore based solely on the name.  Cate scored a rainbow Canada tank top and we all got some non-US candy.  After the uncomfortable fullness of the all you can eat buffet at the India Palace a block from the hotel (Fairfield Inn on Albert Street), we went back to the hotel for quiet personnel time.  Sunset in Regina 9:01 pm (i.e. 10:01 pm Central with daylights savings)

ALCAN Day 3 (2 June Sunday) - - Destination Calgary, Alberta

Our third day sailing across the seeming less endless sea of grass of the North American prairie.  There is a serene beauty to it all but the open flatness of the Canadian prairie with few trees make Iowa, Kansas and Illinois look almost enclosed.  Cate got in over two hours driving in (~20% of her total driving experience to date) as the Trans-Canada Highway 1 is a good safe easy space for that.

Saskatchewan Trans Canada 1 heading west - Got agoraphobia?

The highlight of the day was definitely the detour to Dinosaur Provincial Park in the Alberta Badlands.  Not as large and notable as the US NPS Badlands and Dinosaur parks but really cool non-the less a place that begged for more time than we gave it (a daily subtest for the trip).

Badland Panarama at Dinosaur PP

Cate at the Alberta Badlands	Vistor Center campfire fun

Jane loves dinosaurs	Randy antagonizing dinosaurs

Aaaaaaa! Run Away!

We rolled into the Courtyard Calgary at the extreme southern end of Calgary at 7 with several hours of daylight left.  Our view south from our hotel with a Real Canada Superstore and cineplex to the right and open prairie just beyond.  Canadian land use plan is very demarked between developed and undeveloped uses everywhere we've gone.  Much tidier than the States.  Take out Papa John's in the room for dinner.

Calgary Ends just beyond our hotel window

ALCAN Day 4 (3 June Monday) Banff National Park of Canada

Monday was a short driving day even though we hit the end of Calgary morning rush hour.  The drive was terrific as the Canadian Rockies quickly came into view and the views became more stunning with every mile as we approached Banff. 

Welcome to Banff (though we took the picture 2 days later as we were leaving)

Our first stop in our reccy around town was the Cave and Basin National Historic Site.  Disputes over ownership and development of the hot springs there was the start of the Canadian NP system.  Interesting but kind of got forgotten amongst the sights of the rest of the day.

Downtown Banff Crosswalk

Once there, we shelled out for the pricey but worth it Banff Gondola ride to the top of Sulphur Mountain.  The concierge that runs the gondola has dynamic pricing so getting last minute tickets are more than if we planned ahead.  As such, we felt less bad about the "dynamic" stating of Jane's age as 15 years old so her ticket was only $33 and not $69.  The views from the gondola are definitely better than the old Six Flags Skyway from the 1970s but the real reason to go are the views from the visitor center of the mountain ranges that surround the Bow River Valley around Banff which speak for themselves. 

Randy showing an appreciation for heights on the gondola ride	Jane atop Sanson's Peak with Vistor's Center in distance

At the top, there's a short boardwalk trail (1.1 km) to Sulphur (Sanson's Peak) Mountain 1903 Weather Station and Cosmic Ray Station built for the International Geophysical Year (IGY) during 1957 to 1958.  As a Steely Dan fan who loves Donald Fagan's first solo album the Nightfly, the single kept playing in my head I.G.Y. (What a Beautiful World) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH-uopkB6r0

Sulphur Mtn Panarama

While on the top, we found out you could hike up the 2300-foot vertical elevation change along a 5.5 Km foot path or along the 5.8 km old Cosmic Ray Station Road.  In retrospect it was way cheaper than Randy having a heart attack along the way. 

The Canadian version of Rooky Mountain National Park totally kicks the Colorado's version behind.  Literally saw a Moose Crossing sign along with other wildlife versions too that would become normal for the rest of Canada and Alaska.

Sulphur Mtn Panarama - Top of Visitor's Center

This was our first night of camping on the trip.  We got site 448 at the massive Tunnel Mountain Trailer Court C.  On paper it looked militaristic in its uniform regimented straight-line layout that looked crowded and undesirable but in reality, it was just fine (nice bathrooms and showers). 

Banff campsite (Note: the Cheverse windbreak)

The girls certainly enjoyed having electrical power to keep their cell phones charged and allowed us to watch a few episodes of Gilmore Girls on the DVD player they brought along at night (camping with Gen Z).  It was very windy at night, which is probably why there were NO fire pits anywhere (forest fire starters).  We bundled up in our winter gear and used the Traverse as a windbreak for my tent.  The girls chose the easy hammock option and determined the hard way that hammocking was a tropical solution to sleeping outdoors and not one for the True North, Strong and Free.  That lasted one night.

Watching Gilmore Girls in nature	Cate bundled up for hammocking in Banff

ALCAN Day 5 (4 June Tuesday) Lake Louise in Banff NP

Goodmorning Canada

Woke up at 6-ish and walked around campground with Jane a bit.  At 44 degrees decided it was too cold and uncomfortable to journal at the campground and decided to head into Starbucks in town and we are all happily sitting in a warm coffee shop with power and wi-fi not talking with one another for a couple hours (Thanks Ann and Pete Ruger for the gift card).

Journalling at the Banff Starbucks

Road to Lake Louise from Banff	TransCanada 1 Alberta

We popped on the Trans-Canada Highway 1 for the scenic 50 Km (31 mile) jaunt to Lake Louise with a thought of visiting there or the nearby less famous but reportedly equally stunning Moraine Lake.  We arrived at Lake Louise at 10:15 and the streets were jammed with traffic, partially the result of construction work but also from it being the gem of Banff NP.  They were diverting traffic back 6 km to the over flow parking lot but we caught a break as someone was leaving the main lot and we were waved in (good karma).  The east end of Lake Louise offers postcard views and swanky Fairmount Chateau (which we skipped) was packed with wealthy Asian tourists armed with selfie sticks.

Away from the Maddening Crowds

Cate striking a Meh pose

Randy at east end of Lake Louise	and the west end

The crowds dissipated as we took the easy lakeside hike along the north shore of the lake (well-traveled but not the claustrophobic feeling at the first views from the parking lot).  Enthusiasm for longer hike up past the lake to the Plane of Six Glaciers Teahouse wasn't there and we made it a 5 K roundtrip.  The road to Lake Moraine was closed as we left so comparing views wasn't an option.

Doing some bouldering	Blossoming flowers

Field of dandolions

Returning to Banff we grabbed some cheaper lunch options than offered at the swanky Lake Louise restaurants and did some souvenir shopping.  There was much enthusiasm for more sightseeing so it was a leisurely night of some dinner and a couple episodes of Gilmore Girls before heading into our tents at 10-ish with daylight still lingering.

Missing Bethany, as she would have definitely liked the two days in Banff (except for the sleeping on the ground part)

Bundled up for another episode of Gilmore Girls before bed

ALCAN Day 6 (5 June Wednesday) Icefield Parkway to Jasper NP

We retraced our drive along Trans-Canada Highway 1 past Lake Louise, turning north on Highway 93, the Icefield Parkway heading towards Jasper NP (the Canadian Rockies National Parks are actually four adjacent parks established at different times: Banff, Jasper, Yoho and Kootenay.  We made lots of stops along the way for scenery selfies at look outs for Crowfoot Glacier (36 Km to LL), Bow Glacier and Nun-Ti-Jah Lodge (40 Km)' Saskatchewan River Crossing (80 Km)' Icefield Centre and Athabasca Glacier (130 Km)' Tangle Falls (137 Km)' and Athabasca Falls Hostel turnout (201 Km) before hitting the town of Jasper to get a late lunch/dinner. 

Crowfoot Glacier

Bow Lake

The cafeteria price of $16 for a grilled cheese sandwich or $8 for a pretzel at Saskatchewan River Crossing convinced us we needed to raid our snack stash and wait until later.  The girls came to this conclusion on their own without prompting which pleased me greatly.  It wasn't any better at the Icefield Centre an hour later either.  I was a bit amazed how many people were forking over $109 to take a bus up to the glacier and then ride a snow bus out to walk on it instead of just walking up to it like we did.  We considered it but I decided to keep the $275 it would have cost (without lying about Jane being 16 and not 15).  The commercialization of the National Park assets Banff and Jasper were a bit disturbing too in comparison to the US.

The transition between Banff and Jasper National Parks at the Icefield Centre was transparent or maybe we were just oblivious to a modest marker (the lack of grand statement monuments to take a photo by are a bit of a disappointment in Canada as compared to the States). 

Entering Jasper NP sign at Icefield Visitor Center (Maybe that's why we didn't see one on the road)

It's hard not to be disturbed by the Athabasca Glacier and its clear retreat over the last century plus of surveyed end point locations.  The wind was blowing hard on the face of the glacier and it was drizzling so we didn't linger too long.  Mother Nature's unpleasant weather seemed oddly fitting for a sight that I doubt the girls will be able to take their kids to see it.

Receeding Athabasca Glacier from the 2006 line

Tangle Falls

Middle of the road view from near Athabasca Falls Hostel looking south

We reserved a couple nights within Jasper NP's Wapiti campground and were in the minority for having tents as opposed to an RV of some sort at this location with NO improvements other than shared flush toilets and sinks for each ~50 sites.  Our site W16, was about 75 feet from a roaring stream that flowed into the Athabasca River that provided a constant white noise hum that was soothing.  They had small fire pits (~2-foot diameter) and for $8.80 Canadian (75% of the US rate) you could have all the wood you wanted.  I was excited about stoking as much wood as I could to stay toasty warm but the girls didn't want everything to reek of smoke for the next 4 weeks so we stayed needlessly chilly.  The idea of having them move their tent further away has crossed my mind but they would complain about me smelling…women.

Jurassic Park Sienna...if only we still had our 2004

ALCAN Day 7 (6 June Thursday) Jasper NP

Woke up at 5:30 to discover a light rain came in overnight so everything was wet but not horribly so.  Still it was a rookie move to let the chairs collect puddles.  Organized pictures so far while the girls stayed in their tent.

An elk enjoying our campground

The morning plan was to go to Tim Horton's to get some power and wi-fi but it was packed with no tables with power so we went to Uncle Charlie's favorite pancake house Smitty's.  A pricey breakfast but Team Curtis was happy with their connections.  Jane to Cate after Cate had 3 cups of coffee, "Can you please stop talking?" They also commented that they finally get what the Gilmore Girls talk so fast….

Jasper Smittys (They're used to seeing campers come in but we set the bar with our rats nest of electrical chords and power strip charging 3 computers, 3 phones and 1 Nook.  We tipped well.)

On Jasper day 2, we spent the day going back up (i.e., south) the parkway to catch the falls we missed the day before.  We hiked in and around a number of soaring glacier streams and the stunning falls like Athabasca Falls and Sunwapta Falls.  We consider doing a whitewater float trip but as with the Banff Gondolas, they had dynamic pricing which can add 15% in our experience on a "slow" day (I hate to see what the up charge would be on a busy day).  Canada's commercial outfitters under contract to their National Parks are a bit exploitive.  Besides the dynamic pricing, there was a brochure kiosk for rafting outfitters at the end of a trail next to the Athabasca Falls.  That would never be allowed in the NPS.  Inside buildings is one thing, but not outside at the end of a trail.

Jane at the rapids above Sunwapta Falls

At the top of Sunwapta Falls Cate	and Dad

Above the lower Sunwapta Falls	Pointing out Athabasca Pass of the Canadian Rockies

Lower Athabasca Falls	Wapta piggyback

When returning to our campground, the neighbors mentioned that in the morning a bear visited the campsite on the other side of our tents, like 30 feet away.  Maybe that's why everyone else has an RV.  It's easier for a bear to get food from as sandwich bag (like our tents) than a sealed tin can (like an RV).  They said the ranger came and shooed them off like a naughty, pesky nuisance.  The other park rangers was asked weren't concerned either accept to reiterate making sure that all food items (and anything with a smell) were in the car when we were not actively present.

After showers and making dinner, the girls wanted to head back into Jasper to get more Wi-Fi and power so that they could continue to Vlog about their trip AND journal about the day for their school credit.  Hard to argue about that.

Wapta Campground (the bear was spotted on the other side of the tent)

ALCAN Day 8 (7 June Friday) - ALCAN! Mile 283 Fort Nelson

A longer driving day than expected driving ~1000 km/620 miles with 13 hours on the road.  We celebrated National Doughnut Day in the States at Tim Hortons's in Hinton, AB before taking the "Scenic Route to Alaska" "Alberta Highway 40 between Hinton and Grand Cache which as the temperatures dropped to freezing outside the William A. Sweitzer Provincial Park the weather went from rain, snain to snow and then back to rain.  No longer were the watch for animal warnings covering elk, bison and moose but along this route we needed to watch for caribou (all we saw were the sign cutouts). 

Marvel Logic - If Steve Rodgers (Captain America) were in Cananda, he'd get dounuts today	Hot Timmy's Joe amongst the snowing scenic route to Alaska

After 6 hours driving, we reached Mile 0 of the Alaskan Canada Highway at Dawson Creek.  It was too beautiful of a day to stop with the sun shining so bright with hours left in the day so we pushed on Highway 97 past Fort St, John with thoughts of catching some camping at an RV park an hour or so further. 

ALCAN Mile 0

Cheversetronaughts at ALCAN Mile 0	ALCAN Mile 0 Randy

Pause in the action for a couple of factoids that didn't enter my consciousness until to this point:

• the hockey team in Edmonton is named the Oilers and there is ample reason for that with the numerous oil rigs and pipelines that dot northern Alberta including Highway 97. 
• definition of Hell on Wheels: "itinerant collection of flimsily assembled gambling houses, dance halls, saloons, and brothels that followed the army of Union Pacific railroad workers"

The RV parks noted in our copy of the ALCAN travel bible the Milepost consisted of rows of dozens and dozens interconnected trailer home "hotels" catering to them.  Now I'm sure most of the oil and pipeline workers roustabouts and roughnecks are wonderful people and maybe it just my active imagination having listened to Paint Your Wagon about Boom Town sinful living too many times but somewhere in the haven of hundreds of men between 18 and 50 there would be some I would not want my daughters around.  I decided we would keep driving and get a room at a name brand hotel at the next town of size, Fort Nelson.  The Super 8 was lovely.

ALCAN Day 9 (8 June Saturday) ALCAN Mile 469 Liard River Hot Springs

After a crazy long day on Friday, I let the girls sleep in to 9:30, getting them up only to get the complimentary breakfast at the Super 8.  We lingered at the hotel until 1130 getting a call from the front desk reminding us to leave by noon.

Another day of epic scenery through the Sentinel and Barricade Ranges of the Canadian Rockies / Muskwa-Kechika Management Area including Stone Mountain PP, Summit Lake, Muncho Lake and stopping at the Liard River Hot Springs.  It would have been nice to hike a bit but it was a nice day. 

ALCAN river crossing

Summit Lake Outhouse

At Liard Hot Springs Mile Marker 496

After driving ~200 miles in 5 hours, we found the PP campground full but after skipping the private one a few hundred feet down the road as a bit smarmy came across the Mould Creek Campground at little further down the road with a herd of bison outside the gate (in a surreal bit of detail the printed Milepost guide noted the presence of the herd which evidently doesn't roam).  The Mould Creek Campground bathroom / shower facility was a self-enclosed bathroom from a suburban home or hotel and set the bar of possibilities for a facility next to an unimproved camping site.  Seeing a bear at the campsite next to us is becoming a thing but the owner/manager took them as a nuisance like a large squirrel or raccoon chasing them off on her 4 wheel ATV when the Golden Retriever was too distracted by having human guests to chase the bear off himself which was supposedly his job (we had trouble imagining that one too).

Black Bear at our campsite	Oh no Yogi, its the Curti.

After dinner, I coerced the girls to join me at the Liard River Hot Springs PP which had been in use during the ALCAN construction.  On 0.4-mile hike on the board walk back to the car, they both thanked me for making them go.  It really has been a journey of knowing when to push them, let things go that would be nice and nurturing them when they need more (such as walking with Jane a 1:30 am to the bathroom because Cate wouldn't and Jane panicked a bit when she couldn't see without her contacts despite the ever present glow of light all night long, brighter than the full moon.  The idea of a bear lurking about probably had something to do with their motives.

Cate relaxing at Laird Hot Springs	Jane too

ALCAN Day 10 (9 June Sunday) ALCAN Mile 887 YUKON Whitehorse

We've definitely became desensitized to distances and driving spending 8 hours/440 miles in the car without giving it a second thought.  While dad might retain a sense of awe about the mountain passes and the effort it took to complete the ALCAN highway in 1942, the girls weren't even bothering to humor me anymore and just didn't say anything at the paternal announcements of Beautiful/Awesome/Wow and the like.  Getting them to get out of the car to have their picture taken with the Welcome to the Yukon sign took nagging (and being in the driver's seat and able to stop the car and refuse to make it go again).  By the time Cate took over at Teslin, hanger was in place as they didn't want to eat what was in the car and there were no choices along the way they were interested in either.

Teslin Culture Center(?) (we didn't go in but the outside had a fun mural)

Yukon!

Based on the Milepost, we found the Wolf Creek Provincial Park Camp Ground outside Whitehorse, the Capital city of the Yukon at ALCAN highway Mile 877.  At $12 Canadian ($9 US). It was really nice and cheap, particularly with the benefit of limitless firewood, which we once again did not take advantage of.  The only downer was the lack of potable water and the regret of EMPTYING our full 5-gallon water jug to save weight and hence gas a few days earlier.  Doah!

2019 ALCAN Roadtrip Part 3 (Days 24 Juneau - 38 WG & summation)

2019 ALCAN Roadtrip Part 2 (Days 11 Dawon City - 23 Juneau)

2019 ALCAN Roadtrip Part 1 (Why through Day 10 Whitehorse)