Mom had to drive from Haines Junction, Yukon to Tok, Alaska. It is about 300 miles of bad roads. Mom explained that the permafrost thaws and refreezes which buckles the pavement. The road then becomes up and down big bumps filled with potholes 6 to 12 inches wide and 3 to 12 inches deep! Repairs to the road after a hard winter are miles of gravel. The gravel was actually nicer than the bumpy pavement. Mom did her best to drive slowly, but the bumps and holes still shook our home on wheels. Missy fell off her bunk, Miko was knocked off the stove where she was trying to look out, and I couldn’t keep the covers on the bunk where I like to snuggle in when we are on the road. Not nice.

In Tok we had a nice place to camp where Mom could plug in the extra heater. It was chilly, but there were trees for us to check out. Mom would have liked a restroom and water, but we liked it.

Tok, however, was followed by the drive to Anchorage. Of that 300 miles, half was frost heave road with no gravel repairs. When we finally reach our family in Anchorage, we were all exhausted. I loved letting our granddaughter pet me. I don’t think she understood my silent complaints about the drive. I didn’t care as long as she was petting me.

Tomorrow we will be back on the road but not for long distances. Mom talked about glaciers and historic buildings. Personally, I think one pile of snow is just like another, and I’m sure we won’t be able to use the old log buildings as scratching posts. It will be another day of adventure. I’ll keep you posted.

We have had 2 overnight camping spots right by the water in first. Seward, AK and the in Homer, AK. The only wildlife were eagles, seagulls, and Ravens. The eagles were collected a ways from our site, so I wasn’t worried, but Missy wouldn’t walk that direction.

The seagulls stayed over the water, which was fine. The Ravens, however, hung out close in hopes that Mom might feed them. I hated the noises they made on the van roof. Miko liked exploring outside on her lead. When a Raven would land close, Miko would go into hunting mode. Silly kitten seemed to think she could catch one! It got really scary when 10 of them totally surrounded her. Missy and I went out to scare them away. She may be a pain, but I didn’t want a conspiracy of Ravens carrying her a way. I’ll admit that it would be more fun to tell you about if they were a murder of crows, but these truly were Ravens.

• Post #147 – Estate Sale
• Post # 146 – Dad’s Life Part 2
• Post # 145 – Part 1 of Dad’s Life
• Post # 144 – The Littles
• Post 143 – I’m Back!

The trip to the frozen north was fun, but I’m happy to be away from what Mom called frost heaves in the roads. We crossed the border from Canada to the US with only a couple of questions. They didn’t even ask about us.

We have been camped in the driveway of Mom’s friends. They have lots of space and it all smells so nice. Miko likes to kiss their big dog who is afraid of her. She wants to spend every minute rolling in the dirt. I just sit and watch her.