Day 44: Driving to Haines, AK

Every Type of Weather Except Snow


Driving on the Haines Highway
Today we finished our drive from Fairbanks to Haines-- Via Canada (Both Yukon Territory and British Columbia).

 You'll remember that we stopped somewhere in Yukon yesterday at the Pine Valley Lodge & Cafe, which was a dead zone.  So, as promised, here is the video of yesterday's drive. (See yesterday's blog post for the full scoop on the day.)




We made a stop at the gas station/cafe/motel in Destruction Bay that we had originally planned to stay at, and while we did have cell service there, we were SO glad we decided to skip it.  We had about the worst food we have ever been served on the entire trip (Bob couldn't even eat his cinnamon roll-- now that is bad!), and they gouged us on everything from gas to coffee.

 However, they do seem to attract their fair share of dumb tourists (which I guess is how they stay in business).  Bob spotted this one and couldn't stop laughing.

I'm Special! (Or I Can't Read)
However, we got yesterday's blog posted and then were on our way out of Canada to Haines, where we will catch the ferry on Monday for our journey back to the lower 48 (Bellingham, WA to be exact.)

 The drive took us over the same lousy road until we reached Haines Junction, at which point we turned onto the Haines Highway (a new road) with fabulous pavement, wonderful curves, and simply spectacular scenery.

 Bob thought he was being smart when he suggested I drive today (knowing how bad this portion of road was last time), but he ended up tremendously jealous when M and I got to play on the entire Haines Highway run.

 This video provides some of the highlights of the second portion of the trip. (Note that since I was driving, Bob was in charge of GoPro, so blame any video glare on him.)





It was amazing to watch the weather change along this 200 mile trip.  We hit sun, saw amazing cloud formations over the mountains, drove through rain and dense fog, and then back into sun again.

Here are some shots from along the way:

Clouds over Destruction Bay

Mountains and Fall Colors

Three Layers of Color

Driving Towards Haines Junction (We're headed to those cloudy mountains, I think)

Rain on the Haines Highway

Sun Trying to Peek Out on the Haines Highway

Another Interesting Cloud Formation

Dense Fog on the Haines Highway

Sun Again as We Come Into Haines

I should also mention that I was the one who helped us breeze through customs this time.  I think it was the way I answered, "Not a Thing" to the first question about whether we purchased anything in Canada that we were bringing back to the States.  The border agent then asked why I said it like that, and when I answered that there was nothing at all in Canada between the other Alaska border and this one, he laughed and said, "Just Bad Weather and Bad Roads." When I added "and bad food" he laughed again and waived us through, without another question.  

 We reached Haines in the late afternoon (having gained an hour again), and found our "Attic" apartment downtown.  Here is the outside:
Our Attic Apartment Rental in Haines (we are the top half)

 You can see the mountains and the water from the deck-- so some pics of that tomorrow.  We did a little exploring today, and plan to do a full walking tour of the town tomorrow.

 --Lisa

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