Sent on May 28, 2003 from Dawson Creek.

US$= Canadian$1.5 or Canadian$=74 US cents.  Gasoline is twice
as expensive here, 65-75 Canadian cents per liter for
low-grade lead-free.

Report: Banff Park (Canadian Rockies), (2.5 hours) NW to Jasper
Park (and Glaciers), (4hr) North to Prince George, (4hr) Northeast
to Dawson Creek.  Total Mileage from Miami so far = 5,500m/9,000km,
Dawson Creek marks Alaska Highway Mile = 0, on my way to circling
North America.

To Mom and sisters, just arrived at Dawson Creek, I am OK.
No cell service from here, typing this from the public
library.  Will also type this report. I have an hour, then
get gas and continue to Whitehorst, Yukon.  I am 1523 km
from Fairbanks, Alaska from the city center here.  I will
send the next report from Fairbanks, after I decide what to
do from there.

MUST DO! If you are a traveler, especially living in North
America, add Banff National Park to your list of places to
see.  It is 90km west of Calgary, in the Canadian Rockies. 
The village and the setting are one of the most beautiful
places on earth, including similar Austrian, Swiss,
Italian, and/or French settings.  You can do this as part
of a larger tour that includes the Glacier National Park
near the border in Montana, Waterton Glacier Lakes at the
border, all just south of Banff and Jasper National Park
further north.  This is not all. The landscape is full of
lakes and other national parks, like Lake Louise which is
also a must-see.  At Banff, take the Gondola
(cable-capsule) to the top of the Sulphur Mountain for
views to the heavens.  Much more to do all around,
including rafting.  The road to Jasper village (Rt. 1, then
Rt. 93, after Lake Louise) about 3 hours Northwest, is
awesome, no less than the Rocky Mount. Nat. Park drive in
Colorado, add a dozen of lakes and glaciers.  Indeed, you
should continue that road (it joins Rt.16; continue on
this) say for about another 100 miles further north of
Jasper, toward Prince George.  If you are interested, let
me know. I'll prepare a suggested itinerary for you for as
long as you desire, covering whatever states you want.


Sent on May 31, 2003 from Fairbanks, Alaska.

OK, the last report was from Dawson Creek, mile 0 of
Alaskan Highway.  I passed thru Watson Lake next, 4-5 hours
of driving.  The landscape was pretty but nothing
exceptional, much like anywhere in wooded USA.  At Watson
Lake, you enter Yukon.

1. Stone Mountain, Summit and Muncho Lakes. It rained
buckets from Watson Lake all the way to Whitehorse, but
this was a lucky turn of events.  About 150km to
Whitehorse, you pass thru an area called Stone Mountain and
Summit Lake, then Muncho Lake.  Spectacular scenes all
around.  The rain subsided then and the wonderful scene
around me was shrouded in mist and layers of fog, covering
a mountain top here, part of a lake there, giving the 
gorgeous surroundings a dramatic, ethereal and ghostly
quality, (I thought) literally out-of-this-world, in the
pallid light lingering at 11pm.

2. Kluane National Park. The road to Whitehorse, Yukon is
mostly west, passing thru the magnificent Kluane National
Park, where you are greeted again by snow-capped Canadian
Rockies, continuing like a wall right next to you,
accompanied the many lakes and wetlands.  At higher
altitudes the trees are much smaller, bush-like, giving
this mountainous a swamp-like appearance.

3. Roads.  The roads are supposedly all paved.  However,
these are not your regular roads.  There is lots of
bumping, bouncing, jerking and rocking and rolling as you
drive.  And in May there is lots of repair going on to fix
the damage from the previous winter.  So you go thru long
stretches of gravel and muddy roads, especially in Canada. 
In Alaska the roads are better, the asphalt of superior
quality.  There are no rest areas along the highway as we
know them on US interstates.  There may be sporadically a
cabin or 2 for a restroom.  But you pass thru small
settlements where you can get gas and some food, probably
the way our (now sophisticated) rest areas started in the
1950s.  On many stretches, I was the only vehicle going in
either direction sometimes for 2 hours, probably also
because most sensible people were at hotels at the ungodly
late hours I like to drive.

4. Midnight Sun.  Already at Banff, lower British Columbia,
I noticed that the day gave way grudging to the night.  It
lingered.  By the time I was in Yukon, it was still light
at 11pm.  When I entered Alaska (clock change to 1 hour
earlier from Yukon, so 4 hours earlier than EDT), I could
read a newspaper in the still daylight-like conditions at
1am.  By 2 am I could still do it but with some strain.  I
continued driving to Fairbanks all the way to 5 am, just to
enjoy this, dim and gray daylight for a full night for the
1st time for me.  It is kind of weird to see kids riding
bicycle, couples strolling around at 1am . . .

5. Northern Lights.  I was told that the Northern Lights
are best seen in winter (Feb. best), when it is dark
outside, not as well from May to August, when the daylight
lingers.  I had a glimpse of these lights--have a photo--on
the way to Fairbanks, perhaps because the cloud cover
provided enough darkness for them to be visible.  It is an
eerie sight.