Day One: Elmendorf to Tok, AK

Highlights from Tuesday, 22 July:

• We woke up around 7 a.m. and tried to use up what breakfast items we could. We haven't yet figured out the fine art of balancing food before a move (use too little, the car is overloaded; use too much, and you have nothing for the road), so we had lots leftover to throw in the trunk and whatever other places we could find.
• Adam took Kiersten for a walk (one of her last for the next few hours) while Christina masterfully packed the car. Unlike our last trip, we don't need to put anything on the roof. This is a huge improvement, since items on the roof can add to a car's wind resistance, and consequently its gas useage.
• We checked out of lodging around 9 a.m. We then drove back to our old town of Eagle River (it's on the way), sent some mail, took out some cash from the bank, made some final purchases for the road, gassed up, and finally got moving by 11 a.m.
• We have a quick pit stop in Palmer, AK. We also find some dried eggs which will work great for our upcoming camping.
  
• Alaska's highways are usually replete with construction in the summer, but we only run into one 20 minute delay.Saw several glaciers from the road. We’d seen them 2 years ago but didn’t understand what they were. The Matanuska Glacier is really, really long. There’s another glacier further on which is not the Matanuska.
• We don't see many cars on the road. Maybe it’s a slow travel day (it’s Tuesday), maybe the road trippers aren’t fleeing Alaska yet (we saw plenty when we drove up here, but that was in August), or maybe it’s the high gas prices. Maybe it's all three.
  
• We get to Glennallen, AK around 3 p.m. We remember it being a bit of a hole the last time we were here, but it's not as bad as we remember. It has a natural history museum with stuffed animals, and we hoped to take Kiersten, but it isn’t open on Tuesdays. We're left with taking her to the Welcome Center, which really just has brochures and ads for tourist locations in Alaska. Kiersten is changed and fed, though.
• We hit the road again, and Kiersten finally goes down for her nap after ½ an hour. It’s way past her bedtime at this point, so we expect her to be a mess tonight.
  
• We don’t recognize the drive up to Tok, although it was two years ago and we were pretty exhausted that time. Since Kiersten is sleeping, we decide to listen to our audiobook of Michael Crichton’s “Airframe.” It’s an interesting story about an airplane that nearly crashes, and how one of the aircraft builder’s employees investigates the accident.
• We arrive in Tok sometime before 7 p.m, and pull into our lodging, the Burnt Paw cabins. It's a cute B&B with puppies, Alaska sleds on display, and other things Kiersten seems to enjoy. There's a playground across the street, so we take her there to exhaust herself. She's up pretty late, though, as her late afternoon nap really messed up her schedule.
• Results: We spent too long traveling, and everyone’s too tired. Grade: C-. Good lodging, but a long day.

Distance traveled to date: 319 miles.