Leg 17, Chicken, AK, to Tok, AK

Civilization, Finally (Friday, July 24, 2009) Departing Chicken, AK, at 8 AM, we got back on gravel, and finally hit some pavement about 5 miles towards Tok (sounds like Coke). The 80+ mile drive was on pavement interspersed with gravel, but no washboards.

TOTW Highway and Pavement

We stopped a couple of times to take pictures, as the snow-capped mountains finally started appearing. We arrived in Tok about 12 noon, and thought we were in a large city; even our cell phones worked again. The highways were smooth and wide. A free DIY RV wash was included with our fill-up of cheap gasoline ($3.239 per gallon), and we sprayed and brushed the RV and Saturn several times to remove the dust and mud. We were fortunate as we had no significant damage to the Saturn thanks to the Protect-A-Tow; others in the caravan were less fortunate and require new paint jobs and windshields! Upon arriving at the RV park, we toweled both the RV and Saturn with microfiber towels, removing more grime, vacuumed and washed all the compartments in the motorhome, cleaned it on the inside, and vacuumed the Saturn. Famished for lunch, we ate out one of the few times on the trip. Kay washed clothes while Donald read email and sent out the latest journal entry. We were so glad to be back in civilization. After getting everything clean, including ourselves, we relaxed a bit, went to another restaurant (Fast Eddie’s) for a great dinner with Richard and Virginia Raikes, our tail gunner team. The Raikes are a great, unpretentious couple from West Virginia who have RV’d extensively; this is their 4th trip to Alaska. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on the road just before arriving in Great Falls, MT. They are a Christian couple, and among many other things, add calmness and stability to the caravan; we couldn’t do without them. Upon returning to the RV park, we lined up for the pancake toss. The object is to throw a pancake into a 5-gallon bucket from about 15 feet; one gets two tries and a bucketed pancake gets you a free breakfast.

Kay Tossin' Pancakes

Neither of us was successful!

Day 2 in Tok, AK (Saturday) Despite not winning the pancake toss, breakfast was included in our caravan package and featured, of course, all-you-can-eat pancakes, fruit, juice, coffee, biscuits, gravy, pork sausage, and reindeer sausage. The reindeer sausage was like smoked sausage, but somewhat spicy, and very tasty. After breakfast, we made several phone calls, and did a driving tour of Tok. We were so glad to be in Tok after the Yukon Territory and Chicken, but in reality, there’s just not much in Tok beyond several gas stations, a small grocery store, a few gift shops, and a visitor center, and we were able to stop at them all! In the afternoon, the caravan “visited” Mukluk Land, an amusement park. It is really nothing more than a junk yard. They did include skeeball, and Kay was the big winner of the whole caravan, winning a ballpoint pen. After a brief rest, caravan members went out to dinner at the same great restaurant where we ate the evening before. We rushed back to the campground to try our hand at the pancake toss (we didn’t really rush). Kay came close, and Donald won a free breakfast on his first toss, winning a miniature pancake as a token for breakfast.

Donald's Pancake Token

Tomorrow, we drive to Fairbanks for a 6-day stay.

Our Recommendations for Chicken, AK When in Tok, eat at Fast Eddie’s. It is a great restaurant, is a bit expensive, but offers huge proportions. The halibut is great. Arriving in mid-afternoon or before, a night in Tok is sufficient before heading to Fairbanks, some 200 miles down the road. Mukluk Land is not worth the time to visit, let alone any entrance charge!

Kay’s Take Donald forgot to mention that we ordered an appetizer of fried mushrooms after seeing a sample at another table. There were four of us and we could only eat half of the plate. It was a platter and it was filled and piled high with fried mushrooms. They were lightly battered and delicious! We have eaten halibut three times in the past two days and it is wonderful! I’ve decided to go halibut fishing with a gang from our group out of Valdez, I think. I hope to bring back some of my catch! Back to the pancake toss at the RV campground.

The funniest part was after the regular, open toss the leader asked for two volunteer couples. The husbands held the buckets on top of their heads (they could bend over still holding the bucket and also move their heads R or L) while the wives tried to toss a pile of pancakes into the buckets.

Our Wagon Master Couple

It was a hoot! The crowd laughed and cheered, hooted and hollered! We go to bed at ‘night’ and it’s as light at 11:00 p.m. as it is at home at 7:00 p.m. I’m gonna take a picture to post of when we go to bed. It’s never really dark; it just gets dim light like dusk for a few hours. I like this part really well – very clean restrooms; reasonable rates for laundry use, and a nice area for group meetings/picnics/pancake toss

and/or ice cream and pie. Speaking of pie, for desert tonight I ordered a special fruit pie that had raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, apples, and rhubarb in it. It was wonderful! Yeah, I know – miles to walk that off!!! We haven’t hiked any the past few days; maybe we’ll have some time in Fairbanks.

Campground Sourdough RV Park and Campground was the nicest in which we have stayed for a couple of weeks. It has consistent 30 amp electricity, good water, sewer, and wi-fi at the office. The pull-thru sites are among trees with plenty of space in between. The campground food is expensive, but there are alternatives such as Fast Eddie’s. They do have a small, but good, gift shop. We’d definitely stay here again.

Driving Statistics

Beginning Mileage: 13,321.1

Beginning Time: 8:00 AM Alaska DST

Ending Mileage: 13,401.5

Ending Time: 12:30 PM Alaska DST

TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THE DAY: 80.4

CUMULATIVE MILEAGE FOR THE TRIP: 4,010.0

Jul 27, 2009

Show all 5 photos