| Friday, August 5, 2005 |
21:21 - A brief respite
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So here we are in Fairbanks. Right along with the schedule, too... even though the first couple of days of the Highway itself fell short of the pre-planned destination milestones, things worked out such that this last day of driving was nuthin'—just 200 miles of pleasant 65-mph forest speedway. Certainly a far cry from yesterday's trek from Teslin to Tok, much of which (from Haines Junction all the way to within miles of Tok itself) was under construction and seemed to have more stretches of gravel than of paved road. (Of course it wasn't, but time-wise it felt that way.)
By the way, behold the wildlife of the Yukon and northern BC! Setting out from Fort Nelson two days ago, we stopped at the sign for the Liard Highway turnoff to get a better photo with us in the picture; I set up the shot on a tripod so that I could use a fairly long lens, putting the car in the background about fifty yards away, and getting both Paul and myself into shot in the foreground along with both the signs. Just as we were ready to take the shot, I noticed a black bear walking across the road, between us and the car, which suddenly looked a lot farther away than before:
He disappeared into the brush, though, and we made it to safety without mishap.
Fairbanks is a pleasant large town or small city, depending on how you define it; nice long expressways, all the modern amenities including malls and multiplex theaters: a far cry from Whitehorse, whose Quanlin Mall—serving a town roughly the same size as Fairbanks—consisted of a drug store, a food store, a miniature Staples, three little mall-style shops, about six forlorn vacant storefronts, a single-stall open-door bathroom opening onto the general entryway, and several huge signs warning people against things like public drunkenness and spitting. Whitehorse didn't strike me as a very wholesome sort of town, and neither did Watson Lake; but other towns, like Fort Nelson and the little pit-stop villages like Teslin, seemed like little oases of down-home hospitality. Tomorrow we get to find out what it's like in Barrow, at the very top of the world, or as close to it as one can reach with any practicality.
The marathon of driving is over. We've got four nights here in Fairbanks, with Net access and everything, so more installments (and photos) will surely follow.
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Brian Tiemann
