The mechanic spent Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning working on the van. In they end they bypassed the tank selector and hooked it up directly to the front tank. At least we were on the road again!

We departed on Wednesday around noon for our second attempt at the Top of the World Highway. The leaves were definitely more vibrant, but it was also overcast and rainy, so the views weren’t as good as they were on Monday. Our welcome back to the US was in the form of 13 miles of road construction. It was raining off and on, and the mud was just as bad if not worse than what we encountered on the Dempster. Eventually the road improved, and we made it back to the Alaska Highway at around 5pm and found a state park to camp in.

Fall colors on the Top of the World Highway

Finish that sandwich before the rain gets here!

Here it comes!

Yay! More mud!

The Alaska Highway was constructed right after the US entered World War II to establish a supply route to help protect North America from an invasion. I’ve been wondering why it was necessary to build an overland supply route when stuff could easily be brought in by ship. A helpful exhibit at the state park explained it. In addition to the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese also attacked and even occupied several of the Aleutian Islands. Leadership at the time was concerned that Japan would be able to close the shipping lanes in the Pacific.

The next day, after a stop in Tok to stock up on Alaska tourist info, we headed for Fairbanks. We stopped in the town of North Pole, where we were supposed to be able to see Santa Claus. Santa was on vacation, and the rest of the place was just a year-round Christmas store, so that was sort of a bust. We headed into Fairbanks and found a campground to spend the night.

A nice spot for lunch

A big, snowy mountain that we don’t know the name of