The Alcan: “The Last Great Road Trip in North America”

At least that’s what all the brochures say. The Alcan, truncated version of Alaska-Canada Highway, was built during WWII because of the perceived threat of the Japanese who were busy taking over the Pacific and threatening the Alaskan coast. Built in record time (8 months!) the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began building it without permission from the Canadian government at first, who later graciously complied since it was already being built. Oh, Canada. It starts in Dawson Creek, BC and officially ends in Delta Junction, Alaska. In total the 1,512 miles wind through the expansive fields of northeastern British Columbia, the northern Canadian Rockies, the seemingly endless boreal forests of the Yukon, and finally…Alaska (not sure what that part looks like yet). We took 3 days to drive from Calgary, Alberta to Whitehorse, Yukon and here’s a list of what kept us busy.

Things that you can do on a 1500-mile road trip in the middle of nowhere:

· Take dorky pictures to prove that you took a 1500 mile road trip in the middle of nowhere

· Stop at Tim Horton’s whenever possible to see how many Timbits can possibly fit in your stomach before tossing your Timbits

· Talk to Canadians in Tim Hortons and be tickled by their accent

· Listen to books on tape (Tina Fey’s Bossypants and currently, Outlander), This American Life, Moth podcasts

· Stop and attempt to do a work out, but realize that your legs are catatonically stuck in the sitting position, making it impossible to even walk

· Study the Canadian money with a pang of envy, both for it’s value and its color spectrum

· Admire the governmental buildings from the comfort of the fountains out front. It was like their Barton Springs…people just hung out in the shallow water features in front of the Edmonton capitol building.

· Camp by pristine alpine lakes

· Try to avoid wrecking the Green Dragon on bison on the highway

· Watch the parade of animals outside your window (porcupine, black bear, caribou, bison, rock sheep, brown bear). It seriously felt like those rides at Universal Studios where you are in that little train and you just roll by the different animals. The wildlife here is mind blowing.

· Stop at the signpost forest and nail a Frisbee to a tree to leave your mark

· Pitch your tent in broad daylight at 11:30 p.m. and then wake up rearing to go at 4:00 a.m. because that damned sun is playing tricks on your mind.

· Boil yourselves like live lobsters in a natural hot springs that is definitely an unhealthy level of hot

· Try to avoid potholes

· Drive through hailstorms

· Struggle with mental math to convert kilometers to miles.