So long Canada, hello USA

Today we reached Alaska at last!  We took our time leaving the RV park because we wanted to avoid the line of RV's waiting to board the  George Black, the tiny, free ferry across the Yukon River at Dawson Creek.  We still had to wait about 2 hours in line because the ferry can only take 1 large RV and a couple of other vehicles at a time.

Approaching the ferry.  

Making the crossing.  

We both made it across and started up the Top of the World Highway, as the Canadian section is called.   The weather was perfect, the scenery was spectacular, and the first few  miles of the highway were paved which made for a pleasant drive.   Then the fun began.  The remainder of the highway to the border of Canada and the USA was sections of pavement interspersed with dirt and gravel, and it was full of dust, potholes, bumps, dips, and washboard sections.

Rough road. 

Great scenery.  

The border crossing was the easiest and most pleasant we have ever done.  It is a joint facility so the Canadian agent asked us a few questions, then the USA agent waved us through then offered to take our picture at the crossing sign.

Crossing the border into the USA!

We had a pleasant chat with him, then were delighted to find that the first 13.5 miles on the American side, now called the Taylor Highway, were paved! After that, we had many more miles of dirt, gravel, etc.  By the time we completed the 103 miles to the Goldpanner RV Park in Chicken (our destination for the night), both rigs and cars were covered in dust.  You could not even read the name on the rear of David's rig  or his license plate!  We were all SO ready to stop for a while.




We had dinner at the 40 Mile Steakhouse at the campground, checked out the gift shop, and some of the funny signs and chicken sculptures around the park, then  gratefully settled in for the night.

Chicken, Alaska, is such a funny little place.  It was originally supposed to be named Ptarmagen after a bird in the area but no one could spell it so they called it Chicken instead.  There are 3 commercial areas, each with an RV park, and a restaurant of sorts, and one has a saloon.  Each has a gift shop carrying many "chicken" souvenirs.  The RV sites have no water or sewer, and the electricity is iffy at best as it is run by generator and fluctuates with the number of RV's parked there.  There are only 2 flush toilets in Chicken, and there is no phone, TV, or internet service.  There is a post office, but mail is only received on Tuesday and Friday.