The heavens opened with a gift that sent almost all of us on the Kenai roads off the road. “Rainbow!” I yelped to Keesha and swerved off to the side of the road. “Wow. A full, double rainbow! Two of them!” Every car on the road stopped to gape open-jawed at the beauty before us. Read the rest of this entry »

I almost skipped the Dempster Highway and headed for the Homer, Alaska. My heart and my body wanted a rest, to sit near the ocean and stop driving. But when I arrived a few kilometers outside Dawson City, Yukon, my hands turned the wheel and I veered north. The road quickly degenerated from blacktop to rough pavement, to a gravel, rock slate mix that rose many feet above the permafrost. Took concentration and dedicated purpose to drive that road.

Eagle Plains is an oasis at the halfway point. There’s a service station, a hotel with a lounge and a helipad. Inside the service station is a mountain of tires travelers need to repair the tires the Dempster ate. Tents and RVs cluster around a dusty lot on the north end, housing those who haven’t given in to the lure of a soft bed after jolting along the rocky highway. Read the rest of this entry »