Alaska via Land, Day 5, The Finish Line!!

A very solid sleep was had by all.  The home stretch to Anchorage would only be 6 hours, 8 if the roads were poor, so we didn't worry about alarms or take off time, but were still awake before 9.  We took time to grab some continental breakfast, and snap pictures of our much loved winter sanctuary in the light of day.  Once again, here is our full size cabin (WITH Jacuzzi tub and loft), Cabin #1.

 

 

The office is the most comfortable and casual set up -- coffee and breakfast was waiting, a decent selection since we were one of only 2 guests (it seems someone turned up even later than us the previous evening).  There is a key drop, and a bell if you need the owners, but basically it's a bit of small town paradise in the way it's run.  Once again, Caribou Cabins at Tok is a must if you are taking the Alaska highway...it was one of the best parts of the whole journey.

Our cabin even had a Caribou on the side.  Some had bears :)

Since we were on the homeward stretch, we emptied the jerry can of gas from Fort Nelson into the tank to lighten up a bit more of the load, and continued to do our best on eating away the food supplies.  The kitties enjoyed some tuna while we alternated from M&M's and Reese's Peanut Butter cups to assorted crackers and trail mixes.  And, as always, we drove on.

We were met with some pretty beautiful scenes.  The skies were brightening and blue.  The road still had a few bouncy wavy places, but overall it wasn't too bad.

And the Panthers seemed to know we were almost done with the drive too.  Granted, the Alaska Halibut from Fast Eddie's had saved them from their hunger strike and they were looking brighter and happier (or less manky according to the co-pilot), and Aiden even braved a quick walk outside of the carrier.

We finally felt we had both the time and will to pull out at some of the roadside turnouts for some photos.  THIS is Alaska!

This section is called "Majestic Pass."  Makes sense to me!

Monique is an mountains and ocean kind of girl.  The smile definitely gets bigger as you get closer to either one of those things!

So here's some more mountains.  I guess I took a lot because they were just pretty.  I think this one is near Sheep Mountain, but alas, still no sheep.  The sheep were the only wildlife no show on the trip.  Silly sheep.

That was it.  From there we rolled on to Anchorage.  In the most untimely irony, it was less than 50 miles from Anchorage when we were feeling pretty safe and excited to get to town when we chattered our way through a speed zone transition from 65 mph to 55 mph and were greeted with some shiny red and blues.  And so I got to meet an Alaska State Trooper, and meekly felt some of the winds being sucked out of my sails.  He rubbed 5 days of dirt off to find a license plate, and much to my dismay, I had tucked all the insurance and registration information into my carry on after showing it to the border to import it...which was now at the bottom of the pile in the trunk.  This in itself is an impoundable arrestable offense in Alaska, but the kind officer explained a few laws and regulations to me, gave me a speed zone quiz, and sent me away with a welcome to Alaska.  I was once again counting my lucky stars, perhaps the good karma from 5 consecutive days of speed limit adherence was in my favor.  I swore to be more careful, and I have kept it up!

Once in Anchorage, we checked into the hotel, unloaded all of the gear for the first time in 5 days, and fell limply into chairs for a few minutes before heading out for supper.  We were reuniting with "The Alaskans," Stan, Sharon, and Dave.  It had probably been 7 years since we were all in the same place at the same time, but we all used to skydive in Arizona in January at an event called the Canadian/Alaskan Invasion.  The skydiving community is a close one, and so we were given a full hearted welcome to Anchorage over delicious steak and great laughs at Club Paris.  We made it...I have...arrived.