Do you know what is really cool to wake up to … a moose. We were just starting to make breakfast when Karen looks out the window and sees a moose. The moose was munching on the leaves at the far end of our site. He/she made her way over to Steve and Linda’s site, then walked beside our RV all the while eating leaves. It then went over to Dave and Cathy’s site. That is the closest that I have ever been to a moose. After breakfast, we got the RVs packed up and made one final stop at the Denali National Park sign before starting the drive north.
Today is one of our longest driving days. We have two days to cover 482 miles to get to Valdez our last stop. The plan we made last night was to try and get to Paxson Lake because then we would have only have 175 miles until Valdez. It just so happens that the drive to Valdez goes through North Pole, Alaska, home to the Santa Claus House. We arrived at around 1:30pm and had lunch in the RVs before heading in. The Santa Claus House is a Christmas gift shop selling everything from decorations to toys to Alaskan gifts. We were disappointed because we were hoping to see Santa but he is off on Mondays and Tuesdays. I think everyone bought a little something before we headed over to the Antler Academy where you can pay to feed reindeer. Cathy, Michael and Liam did the tour while the rest of us watched. It was time to get back into the RVs and make our way down the Richardson Highway.
The drive today was totally different than the other drives because of the scenery. We drove through Eielson Air Force Base where we saw fighter planes flying overhead. We saw vast mountain ranges, large creekbeds and the Alaskan pipeline. What was kind of weird is that there was next to no traffic on the highway. I mean there were stretches of road where we saw nobody. But the best part of the entire drive today was that we were fortunate enough to see Denali. Only thirty percent of people who travel to Alaska get to see it.
We kept on driving and driving and finally we arrived at Paxson BLM Campground ($12 USD / night) at around 8:00pm. Steve and Linda had arrived before us because they left the Santa Clause House before us so that they could stop at Delta Meat and Sausage. Which was a total bust. They were able to scope out the campground and were able to secure three sites next to each other. Because we have no hookups, setting up is pretty quick.
We had dinner and then took a quick walk down to the lake so that some of us could go fishing. Dave was the only lucky one to catch a fish, some kind of trout we think. We even had a bald eagle fly over us. Earlier in the trip, we invited the boys for a sleep over and they took us up on our offer tonight. We got everyone settled into a bed and then it was time for a movie before going to sleep.
Today’s miles = 310.9
Total miles = 1150.8
Gas = 15.158 gallons @ $3.819 / gallon = $57.89 USD
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