June 22: Today began with bright sunshine and mild temperatures as we gathered for our weekly worship service. Dave and I were in charge of it this time, and we had great participation by Motorcaders from a variety of denominations: Southern Baptist, Church of Christ, Catholic, Mennonite (background, but not active), and Methodist, that I know about. The setting for our service couldn’t have been lovelier: outside in the gorgeous weather amid lots of lush, green trees! Afterward, it was back to coach and “towed” washing, which Dave spent most of the day helping do! It takes quite a long time to wash a vehicle the size of ours, and a few in the group are larger. He and the others finally got most of the rest (that weren’t washed yesterday evening) done, though.

When that was finished, he and I went to the local “grocery” store, where we found everything from fresh produce to refrigerators to dog food to lanterns and kerosene! BTW, when you’re shopping here, you find that prices run about 30% higher than in the “lower 48.” Then it was back to the coach for an early dinner and off to bed.

June 23: Today we drove back onto the Alaska Highway and had a scenic, smooth drive all the way to Fairbanks. Just a few miles into the trip, Dave and I saw a moose cow and calf browsing in the right-of-way, but they scampered away before we could stop for a photo. The calf must have been very young—it was one of the smallest we’ve seen so far. We drove the Alaska Highway until its terminus at Delta Junction, where we stopped for photos. We later received a certificate for having survived the “trials and tribulations to reach mile 1422, The End of the Alaska Highway at Delta Junction, Alaska.” From Delta Junction, the pavement continues as Alaska Hwy. 2 to Fairbanks. In great contrast to our trip on the Top of the World Hwy., this drive from Tok to Fairbanks was delightful: lovely weather and fairly smooth pavement all the way!

Our campground here in Fairbanks is right on the Chena River, and there is a paved bike/walking path nearby that goes for miles in each direction—great for exercising ourselves and walking Beighley, too! At dinnertime, we enjoyed a delicious dinner at a local restaurant, featuring a choice of salmon, halibut, chicken or steak. Dave and I both had fish (he had halibut and I, salmon) and each was really good!

June 24: Most of our group went on a bus tour of the city and its various points of interest, but having been on a tour of Fairbanks several years ago, this time Dave and I claimed a “day off.” We drove into town for lunch and some shopping, then napped before a drivers’ meeting later in the day in which, amongst all the camaraderie, our leader reviewed plans and schedules for the remaining days we are here. The antics at the drivers’ meeting seemed a lot like a gathering of high school students. It included the usual buffoons who are still the same buffoons 50 years later. (At this meeting there was no throwing of food or spitwads.) Afterward, Dave, Beighley and I went for a long walk along the bike path and thoroughly enjoyed stretching our legs! All in all, it was a good day.

June 20: It was great to be able to “sleep in” this morning and then work on updating our blog. Also, we skipped the tour of the gold dredging operation and gold mine and took naps instead. Then we worked up a worship service for Sunday (my hat’s off to you, Roxy!). Dave and I are on the “Worship Committee” for this group, and this is our first weekend in charge of planning the service. We will be spreading the joy among our other committee members in the coming weekends, believe me! After a fairly quiet day, we turned in early, anticipating a 4:30 a.m. rising time in the morning.

June 21: We were up earlier than usual this morning to be ready for a 5:30 a.m. departure to the ferry landing. A short ride across the Yukon River saved us about 600 miles of backtracking to get to our next stop: Tok, Alaska. The single ferry held only 2 coaches and towed vehicles at a time (Dave has some cool dash-cam video of driving onto the ferry), and there are 21 coaches in our group. Yep, you do the math … it took over 3 hours to get everyone to the other side and on their way along Alaska’s Top of the World Road. It was raining when we got up and kept raining all morning and into the afternoon, so given the dirt and chat gravel surface of this 2-lane road, the venture was challenging in many ways (see photo of coach and car below). The scenery was beautiful, but with clouds and fog outside and a layer of mud on the windows, it was often hard to see. 🙁

The wet weather also caused a sad incident for one of our Motorcaders. The man was traveling alone and was just ahead of us, although out of sight most of the time. The roads were very wet and muddy in spots. As we rounded a curve, the repair tech’s coach and parts trailer as well as another of our coaches were parked in a pull-out area. They flagged us down and ask that we go directly to our destination (Tok, 70 miles away) and send the tour director back immediately—that there had been an “incident” with one of our coaches and a truck. Just a few miles farther along, I happened to spot said coach lying on its side just off the road. Trees had halted its roll down the mountain, and there was no sign of anyone around, so we motored on. Later, we learned that our traveling companion was not injured, just really bummed! He had apparently misjudged his distance when he eased off the highway slightly to allow another RV (not a truck) more room. The soft shoulder gave way and the coach gently tipped onto its side. The late model Jeep he was towing went, too, of course. Cool head that he is, he kicked out a window, crawled out and thumbed a ride into Chicken, Alaska. There he found plenty of Motorcaders to help him. He’s staying in a local motel, at least for tonight. This will probably end his tour, and I can only imagine the financial mess there’ll be to straighten out. But we’re just grateful that he’s fine, although more than a little perturbed with himself.

On a less important note, the line at the park’s RV washing area late this afternoon was so long and moving so slowly that we never did get ours washed. Ugh! Dave did rinse the car enough to disconnect it, and we’ll wash the coach tomorrow. Is it bedtime yet??? I’m exhausted! What a day it’s been!