We'll Be Comin' Around the Mountain When She Comes, When She Comes!

We finally headed out of town (Anchorage) about 1:30 p.m. Friday, February 22. We got a late start for a couple of reasons...we had a long breakfast with Nicole and Chandra before heading out, and saying "see ya later" was hard! We also had waaaaaaaaaayyyyy more crap to pack in the car than we thought.

Hemi was in his "hiding hole" in the back seat. He had a bit of a hard time getting settled that first day and was pretty nervous. So after a few hours on the road, we decided to give him 1/4 of a pill that the vet gave us for calming the animals down. The vet said to give Hemi 1/2 of a pill and O'Ryan 1/4 of a pill, but I wasn't sure how Hemi would be, so I only gave him 1/4. I am so glad that's all we gave him because he was so drunk, he could hardly stand when we got to our hotel that evening. Have you ever seen a cat stagger? Well, we have! lol His eyes were glazed and spooky looking. He was pretty pitiful; poor guy. We decided then that he didn't need to be medicated any more! lol

O'Ryan is peeking out from the very back of the Durango, checking out the back seat. O'Ryan has spent most of his time in the very back of the car, only occasionally venturing up to the back seat. He doesn't want to get too close to Rango. O'Ryan has decided that if he has to be in the back seat, he'll stay on top of the dog kennel which is in the back seat, right behind Bob. He really likes being high up.

Rango has claimed the middle "perch" in the back seat. He is totally happy back there. He's up high enough to see everything (when his eyes are open), and he can keep his eye on both of us since he's in the middle of the back seat.

All in all, the three animals are traveling well, in spite of the cramped quarters. I think they actually prefer the limited space as it makes them feel more secure in a moving vehicle.

We made it to Tok, Alaska, the first night. That leg was 328 miles through mountains...up and down and up and down. Pulling the U-Haul (loaded to the hilt!) is slowing us down a bit.

The second night we spent in Haines Junction, Yukon Territory, Canada. We were only able to travel 284 miles our second day because the Alcan Highway is a VERY rough drive. In addition to the poor road conditions, there was lots of frost heave.


We've only seen a few animals so far, the most exciting of which are these caribou in the Yukon. We saw a couple of Snowshoe Hares (and fed one to our bumper...yuck!), a small squirrel, and moose.

Tonight is our third night into our trip, and we're at Watson Lake, Yukon Territory. Today we made it 381 miles. The road was much better. We ate dinner tonight at a diner in the motel next door, and had to get permission from this German Shepherd dog to get in. lol He was very sweet and just sat by the door outside. Don't have a clue who he belongs to. He had to come check us out at the window as we ate, too. lol Life is different in these parts!