Day Eighteen - Tok, Alaska

We have finally made it to Alaska! The place we are staying at tonight is located on Mile 1314 of the Alaska Highway. Although the highway goes on for a little while longer into Alaska, this is our stopping off point. So we drove a little over 1,300 miles on the Alcan. A long drive, but it is hard to imagine a more beautiful one.

The day started early at 5:00 a.m. with a wake-up call in the form of Maggie throwing up. Thankfully, that was her last time to get sick, but Sander picked up the baton later at lunch time, throwing up at a rest area. I have to give the kid some credit - at least he did it after he got out of the Suburban (whether that was planned or not is another question).

I am amazed that no one, including Robyn and myself, got sick in the car today. For about 300 miles, the road was extremely bumpy. The bumps were not small ones like speed bumps or potholes, but more like tiny hills. So for hours the car went up and down like a ship on the high seas. Since our belongings travelled down the same road in the moving truck, we are wondering how all the china held up.

We went through customs today with no problem. After I explained who we were, and what we were doing going into Alaska, the border patrol officer interviewed Meredith to verify my story. Meredith did an excellent job answering all of her questions, confirming for the officer that she was in fact our daughter, the other children in the car were in fact our children, and that the dog was in fact our dog.

Meredith was genuinely excited to be here. She said after we crossed the border, "I can't believe we are finally in Alaska!"

We have enjoyed the drive and the scenery. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. But, we are glad tomorrow is our last day on the road. The hours in the car take a toll both on us and on the little ones. But it is not as though we have merely survived; the trip has been alot of fun, and we will have good memories of it for years to come.