We met Stubbs, the cat who is the mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska, when we were browsing in one of the shops in Talkeetna in July, 2013. Stubbs was adapted by the manager of Nagley’s General Store in 1997 and has served as honorary Mayor for 16 years.
Stubbs lives at Nagley’s Store in downtown Talkeetna, Alaska
Stubbs is now recovering from a dog attack that occurred on August 31. We found out about the attack by accident when Henry came across an article in the Wall Street Journal from October 15 about Stubbs.
After the attack Stubbs spent nine days in a veterinary hospital and is now recuperating in a room above the general store. People from all over the world have donated money to help pay for his hospital bills.
After reading the article in the Wall Street Journal, I did a search and found other articles about the attack in USA Today, Time and the Anchorage Daily News.
Although we left Tok, Alaska almost a month ago, our memories of Alaska will never leave us. Here, in no particular order, are a few photos of some of our favorite places and adventures.
Our favorite place was Oceanside RV Park in Haines, Alaska where we could sit and watch for whales, watch eagles fly by, and watch the ferries and cruise ships sail by.
Cocktail hour whale watching with Ted and RuthyBald Eagle at Chilcoot Lake State Park, Haines, AKDeadliest Catch!
The most exciting and most memorable experience of the entire trip was the South Face McKinley flight-seeing tour and landing on Ruth Glacier with Talkeetna Air Taxi.
We went really close to Mt. McKinleyLoving every minute of our time on Ruth glacier
We loved all of the boat trips we took.
Whale Pectoral Fin on day trip to JuneauStellar Sea Lions on day trip to JuneauSeeing ice calving on Aialik Glacier on the Kenai Fjords trip from SewardA pair of Orcas on Columbia Glacier tour from ValdezSea Otters on Columbia Glacier tour from Valdez
Driving to the Coldfoot, sixty miles north of the Artic Circle was a drive to remember.
Wandering Dawgs at the Arctic Circle
Catching Halibut and watching the sunset in Ninilchik, Alaska.
Four of these fish are ours!Mount Redoubt Sunset
Denali National Park.
Moose beside the road on the way out of the parkLukor liked it on top of his houseBeautiful green valley at Polychrome OverlookAnother group of Caribou up on a ridge
Driving the Top of the World Highway, panning for gold, going for a train ride on the Alaska Railroad, watching for wildlife on the side of the road, seeing the Fireweed blooming everywhere, seeing glaciers off in the distance and up close are all highlights of the trip we will never forget.
Every day was memorable, every day was special, every day we saw something spectacular.
On day 106 of our incredible Alaska journey, after driving 4,644 miles in 23 days from Tok, Alaska, the Titanium was set up in its home in Central Georgia. One day later we were back at our home in Coastal Georgia.
This was truly the trip of a lifetime. Alaska is a very special place and I am so happy we were able to spend so much time exploring there. Stay tuned for some final thoughts on our trip in a later post.
Even though we have taken other cross country RV trips, this was by far the longest we have ever been away from our home in 30 years. While we were gone I didn’t realize how much I missed it until we drove the final miles across the salt marsh to our home.
Here are some final statistics from the trip.
Number of nights on the road
105
Number of nights in Alaska
50
Total miles driven
14,454
Number of different campgrounds
54
Number of States where we camped
17
Number of Provinces and Territories where we camped
Today is Day 90 of our great adventure, Tuesday, August 13, 2013. It’s been a week since my last post from Tok, Alaska.
Our journey from Tok to the Yukon border on the Alaska Highway was uneventful. When we stopped at the border crossing in the Yukon we handed the border agent our passports and his first question was “Are you heading home to Georgia?” He had not even opened our passports but he knew we were from Georgia when he saw our Georgia G license plate on the front of the truck! He is a fan of American college football and he and Henry talked football for a minute. Of course he asked the required questions and we were on our way.
Sunrise at Burwash Landing, Yukon Territory
As soon as we got past customs the road was terrible. We waited for a pilot car to take us several miles through a construction zone and the rest of the way was full of potholes and frost heaves. It took almost four hours to travel the less than hundred miles from Beaver Creek to Burwash Landing, our stop for the night. Our campsite was right on the lake and Blondie even got to go swimming. I woke up in time to take some sunrise pictures before we continued on down the road.
We enjoyed watching a Bald Eagle in our campground in Teslin, Yukon Territory before we turned south onto the Cassiar Highway into British Columbia. Although the Cassiar is paved, it is narrow, winding, and full of pot holes and frost heaves. The first part of the road had no lines painted on it and no shoulders. The going was slow but beautiful. Our one wildlife sighting was a red fox on the side of the road.
After a restful night in Dease Lake, BC our next stop was Stewart, BC and Hyder, Alaska. To reach Stewart and Hyder we turned off of the Cassiar Highway onto the Glacier Highway for the forty mile drive down to Stewart and Hyder. It was one of the most beautiful drives we have been on and we saw two bears along the road.
After setting up camp in Stewart, we drove the three miles into Hyder, Alaska. We drove through town where there are a few stores, most of them closed, a hotel, bar and restaurant, an RV park, and some houses. Just on the other side of Hyder we were in the Tongass National Forest where there is a nice bear viewing platform on Fish Creek. The salmon are running through the creek to spawn and bears are frequently seen going after the fish. As soon as we got there we saw a black bear in the creek.
Salmon in Fish Creek
Black Bear fishing for salmon in Hyder, Alaska
The next morning we went to the creek early to watch for bears at Fish Creek. We missed three grizzlies and a black bear that were there earlier. The most excitement we had was watching a wolf go after fish. After about two hours we decided to take the 17 mile drive on a gravel road to see Salmon Glacier. We reached an overlook where we looked down for a spectacular view of the glacier. After stopping again at the bear viewing platform with no sign of a bear we returned to the campground to get ready for the rest of our trip.
Wolf going after salmon in Fish Creek
Salmon Glacier in British Columbia about 17 miles past Hyder, Alaska
We stopped to look at Bear Glacier after we left Stewart
Early the next morning we were on the road again. We stopped at an overlook on the way out of Stewart for a close look at Bear Glacier.
We turned off of the Cassiar Highway onto the Yellowhead Highway. The road is good and we traveled through several towns before stopping in Houston for the night. We went out to a pizza restaurant for dinner and called it a day.
The going is slow on most of the roads we have been on since we first got to Alberta in June. We have been averaging about 45 miles an hour most days so the going is slow. It’s even slower on some of the mountain roads.
We are on roads now where we will be able to make some time. If all goes as planned we will be in Washington state on Thursday.
Day 83: Tuesday, August 6, 2013. Valdez to Tok, ALaska. Tok RV Village Site 705. 255 miles traveled.
Our last night in Alaska was spent back on the Alaska Highway in Tok, 90 miles from the Canadian border. The drive was beautiful and I am not going to bore you with pictures. As soon as we arrived at the campground we spent about an hour washing the truck and fifth wheel to try to remove a month’s worth of dirt and mud.
Our last meal in Alaska was a feast of Red King Crab legs we bought at a fish market in Valdez and cooked on the stove in our kitchen. Eaten under a tree on our picnic table it was absolutely the best meal we have had on this entire trip.
Wandering Dawgs 