Happy 31 in a Desert No Less
~Wednesday, September 14, 2022~
Day 822 (Travel Day)
Day 86 of Alaska Trip
First of all, Happy Anniversary to my one true love of 31 years. ❤️😍Whatever life throws at us, we always welcome it, jointly. We look back fondly to what brought us together in the first place, as well as the fun of
rehashing our wedding day and all the details that led up to that special moment. But while we reflect, we also look to the future with excitement and eagerness of what’s to come. Here’s to another year of walking through this life with you! I love you babe!
How is it that we celebrate 31 years of marriage on the very same day we exit Alaska? I swear we didn’t plan it that way. We’re actually a few days ahead of schedule. I can’t imagine having done this amazing trip to the Last Frontier without my hubby. What an awesome summer getaway it was. We’ve seen so much, learned so much, met so many sweet, caring, interesting people (Alaskans are our favorite!), with each city presenting something special of itself. And we can’t say enough about the clear, clean air. There’s nowhere else like it, unless wildfires ruin the scene. Since Alaska has their share of wildfires, we were certainly lucky to dodge smoke. We’ll see how things go with that as we drive south. Skagway was the perfect final stop, though we left in the pouring rain. With majestic scenery, rich history, and a fun downtown, it was the ideal place to put an exclamation point (or 2) at the end of a magnificent adventure!!!
On our way out of Skagway, I got us all checked in for our final border crossing into Canada while Jeff found us a reasonably priced gas station with diesel at $6.50/gallon (it’s crazy I’m calling this “reasonably priced”).
Yet, it is better than the $8.00 or $9.00/gallon prices we’ll be seeing over the next few weeks. Once we got to the Fraser Border Crossing, they presented way more questions than previous; questions about fruits/vegetables, alcohol, dog vaccinations, and firewood. We’ve never had to present Sadie’s records until today and once again, they confiscated our 1 bundle of firewood which was a real pain in the butt to get to, especially in the pouring rain. Jeff and I had to pull out half of the back of the truck to get to it. Ugh!!! 😤
30 minutes later, taking the Klondike Highway most of our way to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, we changed time zones (losing an hour) and saw the welcome relief of improved weather. Along the way, we sort of stumbled on the Carcross Desert, the smallest desert in the world, and in such a strange place. Didn’t we just come from craggy mountains, ribbony waterfalls, and long emerald-green lakes?
We both had read about this being a worthwhile stop from some other travel bloggers, but thought it would be too far out of our way to hit it. Well, it wasn’t. Carcross, short for Caribou Crossing, used to be a heavily traveled area for caribou but is now home to the Carcross/Tagish First Nation. At a glance, it looks like a desert, but what it is, is the remains of an ancient lake formed by a glacial process. Being the semi-arid climate that it is, there are still bodies of water that help form the desert, as sand blows in from the shores of nearby Bennett Lake. And yes, this desert even gets snow with average lows below zero.
We arrived at Wolf Creek Campground, about 10 minutes outside of the town of Whitehorse, with quite a selection to choose from. Jeff really thought we’d be it, heading south pretty late in the season. But there are a few other crazies out here with us, as half the campground is full; appears to be mostly Yukon residents. Who knows, as we get closer to the weekend, we might see a few more cold weather hardy folks.
Not finding anything to our liking in Whitehorse for a 31st wedding anniversary meal, we decided to hold off on an evening celebration until we get to a bigger city with more choices. Not too idyllic of an anniversary evening when we found ourselves at a Real Canadian Superstore stocking up on groceries and filling water bottles at the local Mobile station. Woo hoo….how romantic!
But we did have a delicious homemade tomato bisque soup with a pastry top, thanks to chef Jeff…..a dish inspired by one of our favorite restaurants in the Napa Valley….Bistro Jeanty, and absolute perfection! Who needs to dine out when you have such a talented chef at home?