Well... What can I say about the last couple of days. When I opened the computer I really didn't know what day it is. Glad I took notes.

Monday August 10: Watson Lake, Yukon

Mike is up early showers and uses a 20th century invention, a pay phone, to talk to papa. I know they are both happy to hear each other's voice as papa prepares for the cardiac cath today.

This will be the longest & hardest drive on the trip thus far. We have set our goal to get to Alaska tonight. This trek took 2 days in our 2007 trip and we didn't have a camper to pull then. We are pushing hard, just in case we need to catch a flight.

We are still at the edges of the Rockies, the mountains that meet us this morning are dripping ever so slightly with white icing (AKA: snow). The river continues to follow the road making for magnificent views. traffic is light we meet only 2 vehicles the first hour on the road.

The Fireweed has been along the highway for 2 days now. This morning we see a thick patch sparkling in the sunshine. Fireweed is such an ugly name for such a delicate looking flower that anyone would be happy to have in a flower garden (even master gardener, Joletta). Fire weed is the first vegetation to appear after a forest fire and is very common in Alaska.

We are just coming into the city of Whitehorse, Yukon when we get cell coverage. A quick call home=bad news. Papa needs by-pass surgery and he doesn't want to have it until we finish our trip. We go to the Whitehorse International Airport and find a flight leaving late tonight, with 4 plane changes, over 18 hours in the air (not a good choice for us).

We pull up in front of a hotel and hop on their WiFi and check availability of flights out of Juneau and Skagway. Nothing better there.

The decision is made....We must get to Anchorage by Tuesday night to get a flight home. Our GPS says it will be after midnight before we cross the Alaska border.

It's 1:30pm truck time when we get to a payphone in Haines Junction, YK. Mike calls Dr. Burck for his advice and he calls Dara to find us a flight. We tell them both we will call at the next payphone or cell coverage.

We get out first glimpse of the glaciers of Kluane. The lake is huge, the mountains around the lake spectacular, the water is a clear sparkling turquoise color.

The last 250 miles of the Alaska highway in the Yukon is very rough. There are multiple rises and depressions in the asphalt. They are call frost heaves. They occur when the permafrost shifts under the asphalt. It is a constant challenge for the road crews to keep the roads intact. The driving is slow and bouncy!

Wikipedia: Frost heaving (or frost heave) the process by which the freezing of

water-saturated soil causes the deformation and upward thrust of the ground surface.

Who knows the coldest temp ever recorded in North America????

I do... it's -81.4F on February 3, 1947 in Snag Junction, Yukon. Needless to say the frost heaves as we pass thru Snag Junction are really rough.

We haven't seen many animals today, except for the strangest of all. Hundreds of miles in the MIDDLE of NOWHERE we see single bicycle riders peddling along all alone. They apparently have their sleeping bags, food, water, etc strapped to their bikes as the go along their way. I cannot image sleeping out here alone. STRANGE!

We finally cross the Alaska border. Quick photo stop and we are off again.

The ride from the border to the town of Tok was the worst. But we made in by 10:30pm. That's 15 1/2 hours driving the roughest sections of the Alaska highway with intermittent rain.

I think Mikey's ready for "ICE ROAD TRUCKERS"

We call Harry and he confirms, papa needs the bypass. We call Nancy & tell papa to schedule it for Wednesday. Dara has found our flight, we must get to Anchorage tomorrow, Tuesday Aug 11.