July 28, Friday Today was the day we hit the “0” mile marker for the Alaskan Highway – in Dawson Creek, British Columbia. Of the 1,523 miles we only missed 23 of them when we took a cut-off out of Skagway. Of course, we did the highway backwards, from Fairbanks, with trips on and off to hit the major sights in the Alaska interior. Mile by mile on our morning drive we could tell we were getting closer and closer to civilization on a permanent basis; the outposts were closer together, more developed, and at the end one merged into the next. In Dawson Creek we saw the big-chain restaurants that we haven’t seen in quite some time. To celebrate we ate lunch at McDonald’s! We spent a bit of time at the Visitor Center where the formal sign proclaiming the start of the Alaska Highway was. Across the street was a "metal man with boney fingers" pointing statue made by a local artist -- using scraps of metal from surrounding farms; Tom just had to strike the pose. It was almost a party atmosphere as people walked up and took turns taking each other’s pictures posing at the mile-marker. Some, like us, were just finished – others were just starting. All shared stories of their trip so far. We were able to move our rig to a point directly behind the sign to take a few pictures. If that wasn’t enough, there was also The Mile 0 Post in the center of a downtown crossroad. I stationed myself on a street corner and Tom went to get our rig, and he dove it past the marker while I was poised to take pictures. Tom collects t-shirts of famous roads he has driven, and we bought matching Alaska Highway T-shirts before we left Dawson Creek and headed on our way. We felt a bit lost without having that single highway to focus on, but Tom quickly got it together and plotted an east-bound route for the rest of the day – and the next few days. Looking at what lay ahead I can say: “It ain’t over yet!”
1 Comment
Mike
7/30/2017 07:36:45 am
Continued safe travels. Enjoying the pics and narratives.
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October 2021
We don’t go camping any more . . . we go ‘streamin’ ! The “SIlvermine and His” is our 2018 25' Airstream Serenity with Salsa interior and front twin beds., and ‘streamin’ is the name we use to describe our adventures. Stream along as we document everything from weekend trips to longer summer excursions and full-blown vacations. You know what they say: if you’re not in an Airstream – you’re just camping!
Tom & Ella Brown |