Now, going back in time...

We were on the Ferry for almost three days, starting the afternoon of June 7th, getting off on June 10th. I have already posted some pictures of that section of the trip. We got off in Skagway. Small town. Tourist shops to cater to cruise ship tourists, of which there are MANY! Big, BIG mountains, go straight up from the edge of town... Camped out in an area known as Dyea, about an hour away. That's where the iris pictures came from.

On June 11th, we started the driving portion of the trip in earnest. First stop was the Canadian Border crossing in Fraser. Spectacular scenery...

The border crossing turned into a bigger deal than we would have wanted it to. Of course, they ask you a few questions about what you are bringing into the country. I knew that they don't think well of hand guns, so I had made arrangements to ship our two pistols from Bellingham to Tok, AK. However, I didn't know that the sixteen-round magazines I had for my .45 were illegal in Canada. I also didn't realize that the small amount of firewood I had carried all the way from Scottsdale was also "contraband". I also knew there were limits on alcohol, but that you could bring in reasonable amount of ammunition. Anyway, we wound up having them, nicely, ransack the truck after they, very politely, asked me to drive into Inspection Bay # 2, "Please", so they could check out my firewood. We had to sit in a glass-enclosed booth with the truck out of sight so we couldn't see what they were doing. I wasn't worried, since I had very truthfully answered every question the very nice agent had asked. "No problem with two bottles of wine for each of you, and a little bourbon and tequila; thanks for telling me!" She didn't ask if I was carrying any ammunition, so I didn't bring it up. (This later caused a brief moment of concern when her male officer counterpart, part of the Truck's "Search Party", appeared on the other side of the window in our little holding cell, holding my two sixteen-round Glock magazines in his hand, and asked "What do you have to say about these? You didn't mention them." Hmmm. I said I would have gladly mentioned carrying ammunition if his partner had only asked! Well, I got a short, reasonable explanation that I should have known to mention it, and that they can't possibly ask about every single thing that is against regulations. Good point, I had to concede. Anyway, he asked if I had other ammo. I said "Yes, under the floor board hatch" and then the searching really got going! They emptied out most of the truck. Okay, it is their bat and their ball and I wasn't worried, still, since I had been honest and forthright. Then, they found a little safe/strongbox, locked of course, mounted to the truck body under the middle floor hatch. They REALLY wanted to know what was in there! Nothing was in there, but air, and I told them that. I also told them that I knew the numbers of the combination, but hadn't practiced opening it before leaving on the trip. You punch in two numbers at one time, and then one more. I thought it was two and then two. So, I spent ten minutes trying to open this safe under the watchful and interested eyes of two officers. Couldn't do it. Tried, right in front of them, to search my oldest son's WhatsApp entries to find the entry, over a year ago, telling me how to open it. No luck. And, no luck proceeding unless I get that thing open for them to see the emptiness waiting for them there. Tried to call Davis, Jr. on my phone, No luck. So, they let me go back into our Interrogation Room and use their phone. "Hello????", said Davis, Jr., tentatively, when he answered it (and he almost never answers his personal phone at work), showing either no Caller Id, or some number in British Columbia. He then told me how to open it. Safe Open, Case Closed. Except they confiscated my two magazines. No big deal. So, after about an hour of all this Dick Tracy Crimestopper's Textbook work, we were on our way to a campsite at Kluane Lake.

Need to break camp and get headed for Deadhorse Camp, at Prudhoe Bay. Expect to have more time when there to make other posts.

Here's a teaser picture, taken from a Piper Navajo, of part of the Alaska Range, where Denali lives, when we went on a flightseeing trip to see it. I'll post the rest of them and they will blow you away.

Please stay tuned!!!

Thanks,

Davis