The day that Sam and Matt had been contemplated and planning for month had arrived. Moving day was here. Our pallets had been shipped for the meager cost of about $1800. We lost track of how many boxes had been shipped in the mail. The condo had been gutted clean. The cats had their travel papers and the decision had been made to take the cats with us in the car and on the ferry. One of us has a job in DC waiting, and it is not the lawyer.
We woke up bright and early at Morgan and Anna’s lovely condo where we had been house-sitting all week. Combining their two cats (Monty and Maither) with our two cats (Lucy and Thomas) was a little rough at first, but by Friday everyone was friends. We feared the cats would be sad being torn apart. Our cats had also loved having the extra room in the substantially bigger condo. Like the cats, we were going to miss all our good friends in Anchorage, but it was time to move on.
We started the day by gathering everything to be packed into the car. In doing so, we realized that we substantially underestimated the amount that we were going to have to stuff in one mid-size Subaru coup. That was a problem for later. One last nostalgic trip this morning. Snow City for breakfast and Side Street for coffee and to say good-bye to George and Deb. Before we could head out, though, we hit our first detour. Our super-awesome travel coffee mugs had been left in the dishwasher at our old condo. Could not depart on a trip without those travel mugs. Thus, to South Anchorage to find Tara to get the key back and into the condo for the mugs. One successful detour, and we were at breakfast getting granola and fruit parfaits at Snow City. (For those who have been to Snow City, I know the granola is an afterthought on the menu, but you need to try that parfait. It is stellar when you don’t want a gut bomb). I added a side of reindeer sausage, just for nostalgia and knowing that I may not have another one of those for a while. After breakfast, we went to Side Street for our coffee. It is tough to leave behind a local coffee shop like this one. After a longer than anticipate pit stop at my office to get a work assignment for the ferry ride, it was back to Morgan and Anna’s to pack up the car. This would have been a painless process if it had not been for the last minute change of plans to keep the cats with us for the trip rather than to stick them cargo on a plane ahead of us. On a side note here, it is a rip off to ship pets. Alaska Airlines was going to make us go up a kennel size for Thomas because he is such a big cat, and charge us more than it would cost for one of us to fly down with the cats as baggage. Congrats Alaska Air, you priced us out of that one. $25 per pet to take them on the ferry. Matt’s Aunt gave us a nice, big dog kennel with plenty of space for both cats. We can fit a small litter box in there and their favorite mat. Of course, this thing takes up a ton of room in the back seat. It took a lot of time (about 2 hours worth), some creative packing, and leaving some items behind (food, printer, art, tools) to finally get on the road. You’re welcome, Morgan and Anna.
On the road a little after noon. Had one more stop to make at Sam’s old office to pick up a hard drive that had been downloading all the music from her office computer. And we were off! Made a quick stop in Palmer to fill the tank with the last of the reasonably priced gas stations. Matt also had to clean the Lucy barf off his jeans. That cat is like Wendell from the Simpsons; pukes on every bus ride. The crunch wrap supremes from the Taco Bell next to the gas station were a nice filler for the human tanks. Thomas was being surprisingly quiet thus far. He was just sleeping, comfy in the kennel. We had tried taking the cats for rides leading up to the trip. Generally, Lucy would get excited and then calm down, snuggling on one of our laps. Thomas would cry in the back seat as if he hadn’t been fed in a week.
The pass was a little iffy after the Valley. Though the sun was out, we got a lot of snow this last week, and there was a lot of shade with ice. Took it slow as our only goal was to get to Tok; 320 miles from Anchorage. The road cleared up nicely after Sheep Mountain. We made only one stop just past Sheep Mountain for a pee break and to find the books on tape bought at Title Wave before leaving town. Clive Cussler’s Arctic Drift seemed appropriate for this part of the drive. Unfortunately, we started to have a kitty issues. Thomas continued to be good in the kennel, but Lucy refused to stay in there and would not sit still in the front seat. We could not close her up in the kennel without unpacking the car. With all the stuff in the back seat, we had to make a decision to either confine the cats to the kennel or wedge the door open to let them in and out as they pleased. Lucy refused to stay in there or even stay in one place for more than a few minutes. She usually is quiet, but the long car ride was making her more talkative than a 15 year-old girl. When she started to try to crawl on the dashboard, we made the decision that both cats would have to spend the entire trip locked in the kennel tomorrow. Thomas did come out once after Glenallen, which made things worse, because he and Lucy starting trying to cry over each other. Fortunately, he responded well to being shoved back in the kennel with a pillow placed over the door.
At about 5:30 or 6, it was very clear that a motel in Tok could not get here quick enough. Neither cat had any desire to be in the car anymore. And they were making that point painfully clear. It did not help that both of us were getting rather hungry. As much as Matt tried to listen to Cussler’s story, it was taking too much energy to concentrate on the road, while hungry and tired, with two whining kitties in the car. It appears Lucy won’t even eat or drink in the car. Drinking would be nice, since we mixed the kitty calmer in their water. On another side note, our original plan was to make it to Beaver Creek, Canada on day one, which is right across the border. Our late start and realizing the kitties probably can’t do a full day in the car made that difficult. Tok finally came sometime between 6:30 and 7. First motel in town (Golden Bear Motel): $69 for the room and the pets are fine. Sold. Got the cats out of the car and into the room where they are much happier. Thomas gave us a scare by managing to get under one of the beds where we couldn’t see him and thought he had somehow gotten out of the room.
Some Facts on Tok (Thanks to Wikipedia):
Located at an important junction on the Alaska Highway and Glenn Highway, between the Tanana River and the Alaska Range (Eastern end of the Alaskan interior). 1393 people are brave enough to live in the 132.3 square miles that is Tok. The town began in 1942. It was a camp used by the Alaska Road Commission during the construction and maintenance of the Alaska Highway. So much money was poured into this camp that it got the nickname “Million Dollar Camp” by the road workers. Like everywhere else in this country, it was a Native American settlement first, though. Tok is taken from the Athabascan word, meaning peaceful crossing. The Tok River, which we crossed numerous times on the way into town was called Tokai by the Native Alaskans. (At least we didn’t rename the river after a president like some mountain in Alaska). The town gained further importance with the creation of the Tok cut-off. In the 1940’s and 50’s, a highway was constructed to connect Tok and Glenallen. This was the stretch of highway we just traveled. It allowed easier access to Anchorage and Valdez. Prior to this highway, one traveling up to South Central Alaska from those Southern states would have to go all the way to Fairbanks before taking the long drive south to Anchorage, the Peninsula or over to Valdez. Tok made headlines just last year, when on January 10, 2009, the thermometer read -80°F. It was somewhere around -20°F that week in Anchorage if we remember correctly. That was absolutely miserable. It was the coldest temperature Matt ever had to endure. Thinking of the difference between 40°F and -20°F still makes it even hard to fathom the difference between -20°F and -80°F. It is 3°F as Matt writes this.
So, there are literally only 2 restaurants in Tok open at this late hour (7pm). This is the biggest town we had seen since Glenallen (which may not have too many more restaurants than that when it is not tourist season), 140 miles away. For anyone who hasn’t been to Alaska, this is not at all like road tripping in the Lower or Continental or Contiguous 48. There is no “next exit.” The next ‘exit’ (ie. Remote sign of civilization- blink and you miss it) is 100 miles away. We ate at the Grumpy Grizz Café. The directions to the Grumpy Grizz from the motel: On the corner, at The Intersection (see Important Junction on the Alaska Highway). There is only one intersection in this town. As vague as the directions sound, those directions were as clear as water here. We got to the intersection and the sign said: Left arrow to Fairbanks, Right arrow to Canada. Megan was right when we had beers with her the other night. The food sucks in Tok. I was prepared to have a bad meal. But, as hungry as I was, anything would have been good.
Matt was happy to see that upon checking the college basketball scores, GT beat Maryland in the ACC Tournament. Sam was happy that Matt was happy and she was even more happy that she didn’t have to suffer through enduring Matt watch the game. Kitties are happy in the large, yet very simple hotel room and should sleep well tonight.
Up Next: Yukon Ho!
M.E.
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