Running Amok in the Fred Meyer or… The Road Goes on Forever and the Party Never Ends

Today, we got a late start. We checked out of the Days Inn in Anchorage (one of the worst hotels we have ever stayed at) at about 11:15. We finished loading the car by noon and drove over to get gas and stop at the Fred Meyer to pick up some snacks for the road. In describing this, I ask that everyone remember that I have not seen civilization in a year. We went to the produce section so I could get some fresh fruit to eat in the car. I got very excited when I saw the quality of the produce (having dealt with crappy Kodiak produce for the past two years). Right next to the produce section was the organic/specialty foods section. For those of you who may not know, I have food allergies and chemical sensitivities that necessitate a special diet and special foods. I became very excited upon seeing the large quantity of frozen and refrigerated specialty goods. I was quickly able to recognize potential food items that I might be able to eat and exclaimed with delight at each one. I can hardly wait to get to Seattle (back to the land of civilization), where I might partake of the vast variety of foods that I am able to eat on my limited diet. Paul ordered two sandwiches from the deli (one being a very tasty looking chicken parmesan Panini-no Mom, I didn’t eat any of it…) It seemed to take forever to be prepared as I was worried about leaving the animals in the car. It was rather warm out, especially in the sun. We completed our purchase and of course the animals were fine. We got on the road after Paul stopped in at Wendy’s and got a frosty (no Mom, I didn’t try any of that either).

Our drive today was from Anchorage to Tok, Alaska. It was a bright and sunny day as we started our drive. Things progressed fairly uneventfully. We saw some really amazing scenery as we drove across the state of Alaska. Mountains and spruce forests as far as the eye can see. Rivers and swamplands spreading halfway as far as you could see. We also saw an amazing glacier. We passed up the main glacier viewing/stopping area at first, not realizing the turnoff was coming up so quickly. We found another pull-off (of which there are many along both sides of the road) and took some pictures. We then decided that it was about time for a rest break for everyone. We turned back and went to the glacier rest stop, which had potty facilities for us humans. We took the dogs out for a walk (well Paul did at first) and I let the cats out of their carriers and set up their potty box. I met up with Paul and we went to the glacier viewing area for a few more pictures. Then we went back to the car, got everyone re-settled, and continued on. Our drive to Tok was peppered with roadwork and areas where the road was only gravel. Luckily, we were traveling later than usual and we didn’t hit much traffic. As we got closer to Tok, the sky clouded up. We haven’t had rain yet, but it looks like it might start. We haven’t seen any large wildlife yet. Hopefully we will see some soon.

Our room here at the Westmark in Tok is much better than last night’s hotel. It’s kinda cute. It’s set up as multiple single story “cabins” with multiple individual rooms. We were able to park right in front of the room. The only negative is there was a little flight of stairs that we had to carry stuff up…well Paul had to carry stuff up. It helped that he could pass stuff up to me over the “porch” railing to get it to the room. The cats, of course, immediately had to explore the entire room. We figured out an ingenious place to put the cat box (a constant concern)…under the sink and the baby gate fit right in front of it to keep the dogs from snacking (EWWW…).

The animals are handling the trip fairly well. Sam did spend a lot of time meowing. Through trial and error and about three hours, we figured out that the piggie carrier was rattling loudly on top of his carrier. It was making him meow. I used some bungee cords to hold down the tops/handles of the piggie carrier and Mike’s carrier, which was also banging rather loudly, due to the bumpiness of the road. He settled down for a while, but the road got really rough and he started crying again. After some more time, I figured out that even the very small rattle of some latches on the top the piggie carrier were disturbing him. Using a towel between the two carriers and another tiny bungee to hold the latches still solved the problem, more or less. The rougher the road, the more upset the cats got, but they pretty much settled once things smoothed out again. I feel bad that it took us so long to figure out what was bothering Sam, but it’s our first trip with cats, so we have some learning to do. We’re still trying to figure out the best feeding schedule so we can avoid any puking in the car from motion sickness. We’ve had luck with only feeding them in the evening, but we’ve been feeding them the equivalent of about 1 meal per day, though they usually get two. I’m worried that if I try to give Sam more food per feeding that he’ll puke (he has a sensitive stomach and pukes rather easily). While I was settling the animals and getting them fed, Paul went over to the lounge. While there, he drank Alaska’s largest margarita, which he found out was equivalent to 5 regular margaritas after he drank it (though he did know that it was meant for two people, not one). He also had some mediocre tacos for dinner. Yes…he did make it back to the room in one piece, though I don’t think any bear would want to drag him off anyway given the alcohol content of his blood. J It is surprising what a small world it is though. Two of the people Paul sat next to in the lounge were from Illinois/Chicago area. Who’d have thunk it? I meanwhile did not partake and went straight to bed after getting the animals settled and fed.

As it is now 11:20 pm, I will end the post here (before I fall asleep at the computer). We are on to Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory of Canada tomorrow. Now, Paul has to run over to the lobby to get this posted to the blog as we can’t get the internet in our room. (Too bad the lobby is closed and I'm sitting outside with the mosquitos to post this) Hope you enjoy the pictures. They are only a sampling of the beauty that we saw while traveling today. The sky does look much whiter in the pictures than what we saw due to the camera (no offense Paul’s parents). Until tomorrow …