Jasper, Canada to Tok, Alaska

Travels through small towns and backroads.

Gas is still essential for a trip like mine.  It’s often 100 miles or more between gas stations.  I’ve seen a sign saying 220 miles!  With the roof storage box, my hybrid averages about 32 mpg, 400 miles per tank.   Even so, I got very nervous a couple of times.  Running on empty late at night isn’t any fun.  Especially since most backroad Canadian gas stations won’t accept American credit cards at the pump.  You have to go inside.  When the station says, “24 hour service,” it often means you can pay at the tank.  Ooops, not with my credit cards!

I see a gas station and I fill up.  Forget the price – running out of gas just once will cost yo a lot more than a few cents at the pump!

Took me awhile to even find the pump at this station.

Places to eat may be more frequent than gas stations – but don’t pass one up because it looks local.  In over 2,000 miles I saw one McDonald’s!  (I skipped it.  I wasn’t hungry.)

This one looks better than most and I’ve been on the road for two hours without breakfast – nothing at my motel.  And I mean nothing!

Looked nice – I can even watch the cook.  So I simply ordered the breakfast special with coffee.  Without reading the menu …

This is what I got!!  Hungry as I was, I couldn’t eat it all.  I asked for my coffee in my to go cup and the waitress filled my cup with hot water first so it wold stay hot longer for me on the trip!

And took my money at the register with a smile.  Beats McDonalds everytime!

Here’s another stop.

Great inside with the cook waiting to get my order.  Great lunch too!

But sometimes you need to be careful …

See stuff like this outside?  The food may be great – but

When the tour bus shows up – and it will – you’ll be very unhappy with the crowd and the service.  Not the staff’s fault.  They simply aren’t usually prepared for 60 demanding, whinny tourists.

I should have known better at the previous stop.  Here, in a case of don’t judge a book by its cover.  This is in Pelly Crossing, The Yukon.  Part of the Selkirk First Nation.

I got gas.  And it was the first motel in over 100 miles, and the only motel in the next 60 so I got a room.  $100 is pretty standard during tourist season – even on Highway 2 in the Yukon.

The back doesn’t look too promising.

My greeting from Charles and Scotty – Selkirk First Nation Members – was very welcoming and warm.  They had to know what I liked about their Nation.  I should them some of my pictures and we talked.  I think I shook Scotty’s hand more than a dozen times over the course of our hour conversation.

When I finally got to my room it was a fully efficiency, with refrigerator, sink, stove, microwave.  Clean and comfortable – I overslept the next morning!

Another thing to know – vast areas of the country have no – that’s NO – cell phone access.  Most towns do have access, but drive 5 miles out of town and your cell signal disappears!  Internet?  Most hotels and many restaurants claim Internet access.  But my experience has been that some of those claims are very exaggerated.  An average Internet speed may be 1/100th of the speed I have at home.  I find I spend more time in bars because they seem to have the best access in the back country!

To be Continued …