Tok and Destruction Bay

7/29/17

I checked on the internet, and I still do not have a connection.  Called TMobile again and got a different answer. They had me change my roaming carrier and see if that worked.  It did for about 2 minutes, then went down.  Clearly Valdez is not the place for internet.  We left the Bear Paw campground at 8:00.  We stopped for gas on the way out of town and hit the road.  We were told to expect  bad roads to Tok and 8 hours of driving. Actually, it was better than I thought.  The construction and gravel areas were bad, but there were good parts too.  The roller coaster pavement was the worst part, as it was hard to see coming, and sometimes you hit a low spot going too fast. 


We arrived in Tok at around 2:30, stopped for gas and washed the RV and car at the same campground we were at before. Got settled around 4.  Fantasy RV Tours bought our dinner tonight and treated everybody to pizza at Fast Eddies about a block away.  Tom and I had pizza there last time we were here and it was really good. 
 

Trish came over in the evening and asked if we would like to join her and Bev on the Maritime caravan that we had been talking about.  I told her that we have 2018 planned already, but 2019 would be OK.  She said it was the same for them, as they are doing the Great Lakes tour in 2018.  The Maritime caravan goes through Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. 

I tried again to get on the internet in Tok, but it failed, so I broke down and paid for the campground service on Tengonet (I really don’t like this company – I have had problems with them before).  However, it worked and I was able to finish the blog, add the pictures and publish ‘Palmer and Valdez’.  I slept like a baby.

7/30/17

Tok was just an overnight stay, so we were up at 6:30 and out of the campground at 8:00 again, headed out on a different road to Destruction Bay.  I couldn’t find it on the map because I kept looking for somewhere on the coast (isn’t that where bays are?).  Instead, I found out that it was a bay in a lake, not the ocean.  It was in Kluane (pronounced ‘clue-ann-ee’) Lake, and it is the largest lake in the Yukon – 48 miles long.

About 20 miles out of Tok, we pulled up behind Vince (from New Jersey) who was stopped on the side of the road in a precarious spot – there was no shoulder and the road was narrow (he drives a 40’ Phaeton motorhome).  Also, he had his flashers on.  We talked to him and he asked us to drive forward and see if there was a turnout in the next ½  mile or so.  His tow bar connection on his car had broken and he thought he could limp very slowly to the next turnout.  We drove around the next corner and I could see that there were no turnouts and the road climbed up a hill with a drop off on the right.  We stopped, and I got out and walked back to Vince and told him.  He showed me the broken tow hitch (there was no fixing it with Gorilla tape or anything else as the metal had broken off—this is why we caravan in wilderness areas).  He tried to pull forward, but it didn’t work.  So, he unhooked his car, a Jeep Grand Cherokee, and I drove it and followed him until the three of us came to a turnout on the left side of the road. 
 

Vince tried to call the tailgunner, but didn’t get any response (they were too far away).  Even if he got them, there was nothing the tailgunner could do to help him.  So I offered to drive his car all the way to Destruction Bay, which was about 240 miles, where he could hopefully find a welding shop to fix the tow hitch. 



The scenery was beautiful, but the roads were bad.  There was lots of construction, lots of dirt, and lots of holes and dips.  I was careful to stay back a way behind Vince when we were going through all the gravel areas to try and keep the car away from rocks.  That, and the holes and mud, made the drive very stressful, as he had a really nice car.  We got stopped at the border crossing into Canada, and had to wait in line for over 30 minutes.  By the time we got through, it was close to noon so we stopped at a café on the other side of the border for lunch.  Another coach, driven by Pete and Cindy, joined us there.  We had sandwiches and a nice visit, then back on the road to Destruction Bay.  We were the last vehicles to arrive at the campground and we were covered completely with dirt and mud, as well as everybody else.  I got a big hug from Vince. 



Here we are in Destruction Bay, and we just washed it in Tok

Dinner was at the lodge in the campground.  The owner prided himself on being a good cook, and he cooked what I think was our BEST meal yet. He barbequed a Baron or Beef all day, and also fixed homemade potato salad, a green salad of spinach and greens and fruit, homemade raspberry vinaigrette dressing, rolls and butter, and of course, the beef. 

Trish, Jenny, and Maureen



Bev and Tom



It was absolutely delicious, and the meat was the best.  Then he brought in a local guitarist/singer to entertain us.  I wish I wasn’t so tired, but I couldn’t keep  my eyes open, so I left early and went directly to bed.  Later Tom told me that he stayed for all the entertainment, and the owner also sang.  He had a beautiful voice.  He told Tom that his mother was an opera singer and sang to him all his life (they were Italian).