Day Two: Tok, AK to Dawson City, YT

Highlights from Wednesday, July 23:

• Kiersten wakes us up really early, asking to use the restroom. We attempt to sleep until around 7 a.m. We take turns showering, packing, and taking Kiersten to breakfast. Later, Adam takes Kiersten for another walk to see the puppies one last time while Christina finishes packing. Christina also buys a lovely hand-painted Christmas ornament from the B&B's gift shop, making it our last Alaska souvenir.
  
• We hit the road by 10 a.m.--later than we’d like, but earlier than yesterday.
• We juggle entertaining Kiersten by giving her various coloring books. She does OK until she eats the tip of a marker--bleah!
• We notice dead trees along Alaska Route 5--they go as far as the eye can see. We check the Milepost and learn that there was a large forest fire in 2004. It goes on for miles, so the book's description doesn't do it justice.
• The road conditions are terrible on Route 5; they're only occasionally paved. The Milepost tells us it's 40% paved, 60% gravel, but it feels like that ratio is severely off. One very slow RV driver slows us down for awhile.
• We don't see wildlife anywhere. We're hoping for a moose or bear, but nothing's showing up. We do hit some brief construction, but again, we get by it quickly.
  
• We arrive in Chicken, AK around noon. Chicken is as small a town as they come--it has 21 people in the summer and only 6 in the winter (many go back to Fairbanks). We stop at “Beautiful Downtown Chicken,” a restaurant and shop which has a facade to make it look like an old saloon town. Kiersten plays with two dogs, and gets to see--what else--a live chicken in a cage. We also meet Downtown Chicken's owner. It turns out she grew up in South Jersey and lived near Adam's hometown in Pennsylvania for awhile. She and Adam chat about home. She 's nice, and gives Kiersten a free doll-sized inflatable raft which she says aren’t selling. We buy some gas since the owner warns us gas is up to $7 per gallon in the Yukon. It’s around $5.40 in Chicken, although she says the guy up the road is charging $5.80. We eat lunch, and Kiersten goes to sleep.
• The road gets very steep and is in much worse condition at this point. It’s only 60 miles to the Canadian border, but the remaining trip takes us 2 hours. We listen to another disc of "Airframe" while Kiersten is quiet. The landscape is impressive, but there's no shoulder on the road and we're really worried about going over a cliff.
  
• We make it to the Canadian border without incident. We get past customs with no problem, although the border guard has a hard time figuring out who's a Canadian (Christina) and who's an American (Adam and Kiersten).
• The road is considerably smoother in Canada, but now we have to convert miles to kilometers. Fortunately, the Milepost is written in both kilometers and miles, so we have no problem finding our way. Kiersten eventually wakes up, but isn't too cranky.
  
• We completely forgot that there's no bridge from the highway to Dawson City. Instead, we have to load our car onto a ferry which takes us across the Yukon River. It’s a small craft which can carry maybe up to 8 cars. We get there just as the ferry is boarding and have no trouble. The trip is free and takes maybe 10 minutes.
• Our first stop is the Dawson City visitor center, conveniently just after the ferry landing. Christina inquires about the town while Adam takes Kiersten to meet a friendly St. Bernard across the street. It’s a puppy but still huge--Kiersten is a little nervous of it.
• The weather is very rainy, and it starts pouring by the time we get to our B&B. (At least it cleans off the mud which we picked up driving AK Route 5.) Anyway, the B&B is a very quaint place run by a nice young couple. Kiersten runs a little wild, but maybe less so than yesterday. Christina takes her outside to let her splash in puddles while Adam updates our trip log. After Kiersten goes to bed, we talk to some other guests--an older couple from British Columbia, but originally from New Zealand, They're traveling to Eagle, AK to see their son.
• Today’s assessment: weather and driving are lousy, but Kiersten is well-behaved. We make very good time. Lodging is nice. Rating: B.

Distance traveled to date: 509 miles.