A thread. Friday morning we take off on our Alaska to Florida driving adventure. I know some like to follow along when we take big road trips so I’ll use this as the thread & will pin it for easy access. Retirement here I come!
Got to do a trial run to Anchorage. It’s remarkably quiet in here. 
So excited to hit the road I’ve been awake since 2am. Since MrB is scheduled to do most of the driving today, I’m trying not to wake him. I really want to get started on the cleaning we need to do before we leave.
So long Alaska! We’ll play ourselves out
The Chickaloon, Alaska area
Glenallen, Alaska. Yes, this is the most interesting thing here.
Made it to Tok, Alaska *Please clap*
The shortest leg of our journey. Tomorrow is one of the worst in terms of hours & road conditions. Owner of the RV Park hugged us & thanked us for coming. With the border closed they’re starved for business. Never seen this place so empty.
The shortest leg of our journey. Tomorrow is one of the worst in terms of hours & road conditions. Owner of the RV Park hugged us & thanked us for coming. With the border closed they’re starved for business. Never seen this place so empty.
Cheap house wine always tastes better in Tok.
Cats update: They are stressed. Slept in the RV at home last night with them. Woke @ 2am to Sophie hissing & yelling at the other cats. Tigger & Betty hid together in the litter box. No one ate or drank. Hope they settle in soon.
Halibut, baked potato, & onion ring garnish #twittersupperclub Tok, Alaska
MrB: “Take your time, drink your wine, we’re only going back to an RV with angry cats.”
Sophie eats as Betty peers out of the shower. Tigger is hiding in the liter box. This is going to be a source of confrontation at some point when someone has business to do.
Heading to @GurdeepPandher territory in the morning. Hoping for positive energy.
We’re up & moving about. Still trying to crack the code on getting the cats to let us sleep. Sophie cries & is anxious all night. Tigger came out of hiding & slept with us. Betty is by far the most well-adjusted & is totally rolling with it. #TeamBetty 1/
We finally locked Sophie back in her crate around 2am & she quieted down. Betty retreated to the upper bunk & has borrowed back behind the stuff up there. We likely will just let her ride there today. Tigger managed to wedge under our bed & into the exterior storage 2/
compartment this morning. Had to extract him from outside, but got him in successfully. This is not a problem when the slide is in. Breakfast at Fast Eddy’s then we run for the border. 3/3
Fast Eddy’s cares about my colon health.
Distance to destination
Yukon Territory, Canada I am in you!
You haven’t lived until you’ve tried to make sandwiches while bouncing and pitching down the ALCAN Highway.
There’s a major bike race along our route in the YT
No ice cream at Frosty’s or browsing at The Green Apple in Haines Junction this trip #CovidSucks
I’m going to have a Canada story once I get out of here…
Still driving and will for a while. After about 30 minutes of extreme drama followed by complaining on the worst parts of the road, the cats have slept since we hit smooth pavement. Likely means they’ll keep us up again all night again.
Still a lot of ice on Teslin Lake, YT
Camper life dinner. Chicken pot pie, fancy slaw, pineapple #twittersupperclub
Currently in Watson Lake, YT. Canada requires us to be out of YT within 24 hours. We’ve been driving hard and we’re still just barely going to make it. Last night was a terrible night. Sophie would not shut up. She is so stressed & there is nothing we can do for her.
Little sleep has me in less than great mood & feeling lousy. At one point I gave her some of her favorite wet food & she continued to vocalize while eating it. Yes, you can caterwaul with your mouth full. Either Sophie or I is going to need drugs.
No great solutions as Canada requires us to stay on the main highway & we can’t go into shops. This is creating another issue I’ll tell you about in a few days. Stay tuned. Thank you COVID. Watson Lake is empty. They are highly tourist dependent & it looks abandoned.
Been off-grid most of the day. Currently out of the mountains and hurtling toward Fort Nelson, BC. It’s the nose or nipple on this map depending on whether you’re right-brained or left-brained or something like that. I, for one, am tired of looking at underboob for hours on end.
It was 39 degrees when we got up this morning and we’ve driven through rain, snow, and hail. We still haven’t found spring.
Muncho Lake still has ice on it. 1st time of seen that this time of year. There were the usual bison, bears, caribou, & porcupines along the way.
Sophie has calmed down a lot this afternoon & has spent time looking out windows, exploring high, low, & mid-level spaces. Let’s hope she chills out tonight. Jeebus.
Forgot to tell you that yesterday at the border crossing we were threatened with deportation if we broke any of the COVID rules. It would be quite embarrassing if the only blemish on my criminal record was a deportation from Canada for overstaying my COVID window sticker.
In reality it would take them longer to out process me than it would for me to just complete my drive out of the country. So who really won? 🇺🇸
Mr B is both taking a militaristic approach to our situation & losing his mind. He’s doing Dr Ruth Westheimer imitations while saying things like “My only goal is to complete the mission.”
Got up to get a bottle of water and lost my spot.
When you’re a cat with the ventilation blowing your whiskers and burning up road #catsoftwitter
Looks like we’re going to make it to Fort St John tonight after 14 hours of driving. It’s a just shoot me kind of day. The Canadians have given us 4 days to get out of the country. It’s brutal. To make matters worse…
We’re hearing around May 25th vaccinated visitors will not be put through this. Canada will be open to the vaccinated.
Goodnight Canada.
We got sleep! Sophie started being a pain with the other cats and bellowing as we went to bed so we put her in her crate. She went to sleep and was pretty quiet all night. We may have cracked the code. More copiloting for Sophie today.
Ready to roll! Not pictured: Betty. She has buried herself so deep into stuff we’ve packed in the bunk we won’t see her until stopping time.
Monday equals truck traffic. Ugh.
Just watching the miles wiz by.
In other news, household goods now scheduled for delivery the day after we arrive. Is this actually going to work out? Could we get this lucky?
This cat loves the wind in her whiskers #catsoftwitter
Canada has roundabouts on their highways in case you needed a reason not to move here.
If all goes well, we will make it to Lethbridge, Alberta tonight. That’s an hour from the US border. That means we will have essentially driven from Palmer, Alaska to the Lower 48 in 3 days. Trust me, that’s impressive.
We’d cross the border tonight, but we don’t want to drive as far as we’d have to in order to camp on the US side.
Farm report from Alberta: The dirt looks good.
Sophie kept us up all night again. We may cede the RV to the cats tonight and check into a hotel. Running for the border and with any luck will be back in the USA within an hour or so.
God Bless America. Border agent: “Welcome home, you’re free now.” He’s not kidding. We did have to check out of Canada though. This involved going through US Customs, walking through the building, walking outside & then north back into Canada. Going to the window & giving them 1/
our paperwork and other stuff. I’ll tell you about the other stuff later when I’m not so tired, but my brother & I think there’s a stoner comedy in my experience so we’ll start working on that screenplay soon. We then walked back to America & I just feel like waving a flag.
I appreciate my freedom today.
Going from Alberta, Canada to Rapid City, SD in a single day is going to be a real freedom culture shock. Seeing a lot of Montana today, but too tired to take a lot of pictures. Just trying not to die.
We are going to cede the RV to cats tonight and crash at a relative’s house.
Billings, MT
Should mention, we crossed the border at Sweetgrass, a major border crossing. We were there about 20 minutes because we had to clear US, walk back into Canada to out process, & walk back into US and re-process (yes it’s nuts). We did not see another single car the entire time.
That border is genuinely closed.
Having dinner in Spearfish, SD before driving the last hour to Rapid City. We finally found nice weather.
Roasted brussel sprouts appetizer.
Ordered the Alaska salmon. The color looks right.
Salmon was WAY too spicy. It’s a flavorful fish, it doesn’t need that much heat.
We used to live in Rapid City. Part of me still wants a summer place in SD. It’s a great state.
We’ll, we do have a lake cabin in SD, but not where I want it to be.
So much sleep last night! Feeling great. Rapid City to ??? today. Did nearly 800 miles yesterday. Will likely slow down a bit today. I’ve said it before & I’ll say it again, SD is a highly underrated state.
Crop dusting near Murdo, SD
Eating at the SD classic, Al’s Oasis
Made the mistake of asking in a SD restaurant if the salad bar was open. Of course it is. My bad.
Cashew chicken salad sandwich South Dakota style. Not crowded here, but mostly retirees giddy with 1st post-COVID road trip.
The Porsche Club is here.
MrB has 3 moving map displays going on this trip. Me sitting over here with my paper map:
That’ll get the bugs off the windshield as we head toward Mitchell, SD
Just realized we didn’t get any new window chips on our trip down the ALCAN this time.
Thinking the Council Bluffs area for the night. Any Council Bluffs restaurant recommendations?
If you think the US health system is screwed up, perhaps tomorrow is the day I will tell you about what the Canadian Health Department put us through and still is even though we exited their country yesterday. Stop calling me!
My Canadian COVID test has come back negative. I’ve been tested twice in the past week. Maybe they’ll leave me alone now.
Decided to stay in a hotel last night. Carried our belongings in using grocery bags.
Relatively short drive yesterday so Nashville bound today. It’ll be a long day, but we’ll thank ourselves tomorrow. RV smells like cat. Cannot wait to get this thing unloaded and cleaned.
Success!
So let’s talk about my trip through Canada during COVID that has continuing elements. As most know, the US/Canada border is closed. Essential travel is allowed. Moving is considered essential travel & driving down was the best way to move our RV & cats. 1/
Getting into the country is a pain in the neck. You need a lot of documentation. We had to prove we’d sold our house, the house was empty of personal goods & we could no longer live there, & that we had a house in FL. We were prepared. Health certs for cats too 2/
They asked a crap ton of other questions too that I won’t go into. Some standard, some new. We also had to provide a negative COVID test w/in 72 hours of arriving. All fine, but they really look for reasons not to let you in 3/
We were lucky, every other person who came through around the time we were there had their vehicles & trailers searched. Maybe we avoided this by being well-prepared, but I don’t pretend to understand the formula 4/
We were also told we would have to exit at Sweetgrass rather than where we wanted to go to minimize our time in country. Once they clear you in, one person has to go inside to get official Govt paperwork showing you are allowed in the country 5/
This includes a window tag that shows you are transiting the country & allowed to drive through rather than quarantine for 14 days. They gave us 4 days to get out. They also give you 2 COVID test kits each 6/
You are required to take the first test day 1 & the 2nd on day 8 if you are still in the country for some reason. There are lots of threats of fines, prosecution, & deportation for violating policies. There are several rules: 7/
You must be out of the Yukon Territory within 24 hrs. We drove hard & met this deadline by about an hour & a half. You have to stay on the main highway & not go into any towns. You may not leave your RV except to put gas in it. 8/
You may not stay in any provincial parks, but may stay in commercial campgrounds if they’ll let you in. Had to be out of Canada within 4 days. You have to check out w/ the Canadians when you leave the country. The greatest of these issues was the COVID tests 9/
and the clueless Canadian health department. If you’re driving North they do the 1st test @ the border. If you’re driving south, you are responsible for your own test and supposed to drop it off along the route 10/
The Alaska/Canada border crossing is in the middle of absolute nowhere. We drive to the first place to get gas & decide to get the COVID test over with. There is a whole app registration fiasco & you have to register the self-administered tests 11/
You’re then required to do a video conference w/ a public health nurse so they can watch you do the test. We tried. The wait to talk w/ someone was hours long, there’s marginal cell service where we are & none as we drive down the road so this is impossible 12/
We have to keep moving or we can’t get out of the YT in 24 hours. We’ve done these swabs ourselves multiple times in Alaska so decide to just take the tests w/out a nurse. We are proficient at this. We pack them up in the red Purolator 13/
envelopes provided (think Canadian FedEx). We are instructed to drop them in a collection box along our route. Here’s the problem, there are ZERO places to drop these envelopes that are on the main highway we are required to stay on. 14/
We checked the Purolator drop off locations in every little town we drove past. None. In one place there was a drop off at a Chinese Laundry (that’s the name of the place, so back off) that was like a block off the main road. We decided to go for it 15/
We are risking fines from $10k to $500k Canadian for getting off the main road, but there are also significant consequences for not turning in our test kits. MrB popped in, the lady said, “Those a red paks, we can’t take those. You need to pull to the side of the 16/
road, call Purolator, & they will schedule a pick up.” This process would take a full day. We have to be out of the YT before then. We press on. Keep in mind, having transiting people test for COVID is a new thing, all the testing rules are designed for people 17/
entering Canada & quarantining in a hotel/home for 14 days. Long story but, we drive hard & exit country w/in 72 hrs. We turn in our red paks when we check out w/ Canada telling them we tried, but there was nowhere to drop them. 18/
They didn’t seem surprised to see them & took them from us. Tests came back negative, but the health department keeps calling us every day to ensure we are complying w/ quarantine requirements even though we are not quarantining & are no longer in their country 19/
MrB finally had a human call him yesterday ( there are a lot of robocall surveys we can’t take because the questions don’t apply to us). They have no clue that there are transiting people who are not required to quarantine for 14 days. These are the people who 20/
created these rules! Believe me, this is the short version of the story, but they do not have their act together. Remains to be seen if we get flagged somehow for non-compliance & won’t be allowed back 21/
Transiting through Canada during a pandemic: One star ⭐️ Do not recommend. Oh, they don’t care if you’re vaccinated either, same rules for everyone because large bureaucracies are incapable of nuance. 22/
Their citizens also don’t understand transiting US citizens are allowed either. They love to report US license plates & can be downright nasty when they see you. One woman told us she was called a “F***ing American” multiple times and was spit on in the YT. End.
Zoom, zooming past St Louis
Most satisfying part of our trip so far: Worked with 2 truckers for 3 miles during a merge to single lane to block the lane hopper and keep both lanes moving at a steady pace and into an orderly merge. Thumbs up all around as we passed the truckers at the end.
Awake early. Ceded RV to the cats again last night & stayed at a hotel so we could get a good night’s sleep. Planned to make it to Nashville, but got tired & stopped in Clarksville. We’re beat. Our goal is our new home in FL tonight. 1/
It’ll be a long day, but we’re motivated. Everyone wants out of the RV & I can’t wait to clean it.
Lap cat. Notice the cat hair on my shirt. I and the entire RV is coated in cat hair. All Alaska coats being thrown.
So much cat hair.
*are coated
Road warrioring with the curls out and the glasses on.
This trip has been a study in COVID protocols & how it influences people. SD salad bar fully open, people relaxed & having a nice time. Iowa hotel breakfast buffet fully open most travelers relaxed w/ a few insisting on their table being sanitized 1/
Tennessee hotel breakfast buffet (same hotel chain) not open, but staff handing out limited breakfast food. Dad yelling at his kids to find a table “far away from everyone else” people tense & not talking to one another 2/2
Georgia, I am in you! Waves to @AK_Echo
STILL cannot get the Canadian health system to understand that I am not in their country. They’ve now scheduled a tele-health appointment for me to take my Day 8 COVID test. They think I’m quarantining in country even though I have tried to tell them through every means 1/
possible I’m not there and to leave me the hell alone. When I don’t show for my appointment I’m sure all hell is going to break loose. Maybe a human will call me.
Just confirming my commitment to never live in Atlanta.
Horrible accident on the interstate slowed us down. If we don’t make our destination today we are totally okay with that because we were not in the car that was crushed on all sides. I don’t know how anyone could survive that.
Currently zipping through the Peach Pass express lane with my Sun Pass like a pro.
Belly full of dinner and running toward the Florida border.
Are we there yet? A little more than two hours, Sophie.
Hello, Florida!
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