Tok, AK - again

Today was a shopping/travel day. We started in North Pole, Alaska at the Santa Claus Shop. Here it is Christmas 365 days per year. All Christmas lights and street banners stay up year round. Light poles are candy canes and even MacDonald’s has a Christmas theme. Christmas shopping for our grandson started today (cha-ching). With a shopping bag in hand and pictures of Santa in the camera, we set off toward Delta Junction. I asked Karen to check for points of interest in the Mile Post and fifteen minutes later we were parked in the lot at the Knotty Shop (cha-ching, cha-ching). Back on the road again, I asked Karen to check the book again. Most people who know me think I’m a slow learner and I proved them right, again. This time it was a meat and sausage plant but that turned out ok because it meant food. I consider that money well spent. That part time job is looking more and more like a possibility when we return home. NOT!

I decided to keep my mouth shut when we returned to the road. Two hours of driving/shopping and only 45 miles is making for a long day of travel. We managed to finally keep moving and covered the remaining 160 miles to Tok without further spending.

At one of the rest areas we spoke with a couple heading west into Alaska. They are from Florida and left for Alaska only a week before we departed Poulsbo. So far, they had traveled 6,000 miles and they were just beginning their Alaska adventure. We gave them some of our sage advice (who knows if they will use it). My advice was watch for moose, stay away from moose, and zigzag unless you’re on the ground.

Tonight we are camping in the wilds of Alaska at a state park near Tok. Quiet, woodsy, beautiful, and cheap are all good adjectives to describe this campsite. We are on the Tok River. We found signs of moose, so I will stay alert. Tomorrow we hope to get an early start over the Top of the World Highway (TOW) to Chicken, the Canadian border, and Dawson City. I know my gold pan will get some use when we arrive. 

Outside the Santa Claus Shop:

 Outside the Knotty Shop:

Several miles from Tok

Picture taken at 7:30pm

Picture taken at Midnight