However... it has all the travelers services you would need. A couple of full service RV parks, 3 or 4 fuel stations, a big visitors info center, some tourist trinket shops, a couple of mechanics, a couple of motels, a grocery store, and a small airport.
We went to the visitors center to check things out Saturday morning. The town library is located in the same building, and we were told that's where you go to get "the fastest internet in town". Unfortunately, it wasn't working the best for us. But, maybe it's still the fastest in town! I ended up using an AT&T signal through the Telcel Mexican SIM card in my phone!
We asked the girl in the visitors center about a power wash so that we could give Sherman a much needed bath. She said that the Tesoro (?) fuel station had a free pressure washer, dump station, and fresh water fill if you bought some gas. So that's what we did!
We filled up at $3.45 USD per gallon ($1.22 CAD per liter) which for almost 35 gallons came to $119 USD ($157 CAD). Best price since we've been in the north! And, we got to give Sherman a much needed cleanup included in the price!
Doesn't look that bad... but it is!
The mud is falling off in chunks!
Even though the exterior didn't look that dirty, the undercarriage and the wheel wells were covered in mud, inches thick in places! And the lower storage compartments were full of dust and the lower storage compartment doors were covered in mud on the inner part of the lower section. Messy stuff!
I bet we were carrying around 500 lbs of mud!
Almost done!
It took me at least a half an hour with the pressure washer, and it's far better than it was. But, it will still take a few miles of driving a paved road in a heavy rain to get the rest of the crap rinsed off.
With Sherman looking much better, we went over to the local grocery store. Not a bad selection, and we even managed to spend $37 USD ($48.50 CAD) on some things we thought were decently priced.
We decided there was no good reason to hang around Tok, Alaska. We stopped at the liquor store on the way out of town, but there were no deals, especially once you included the 30% exchange rate.
Scenery along the way.
More scenery.
We carried on about 50 miles (80 kms) southeast towards the Canadian border and stopped at the Lakeview Campground in the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge.
There are only 11 sites here, and it's a free campground. They have a 30 ft maximum RV length, and Sherman is 28 ft. We squeezed in to the last site that we would have fit in, and had some work to do to get level. Sherman hates not being level!
Sherman with Ruth in our forest campsite.
It took some effort to get Sherman level!
It's a decent little campground, and by supper time it was full. We parked right next to the only guy in the park who decided he needed to run his generator for three hours. I know... he is fully within the rules to do so. We admit that it was our choice to park here, and we could have moved on. But it's annoying nonetheless. Which is why we normally like to boondock on our own and tend to avoid campgrounds whenever the option exists. But on the bright side, being in a campground means that we could set up our grill and cook and sit outdoors... something that we aren't always able to do in some of the places we overnight.
It was a warm day. In fact, I had seen in the Tok visitors center that some areas of Alaska and Yukon might hit record high temperatures on Saturday and Sunday.
In the evening, we went for a short walk along the shore of Yarger Lake.
Ruth, looking for wildlife.
Mountain peaks in the distance.
Yarger Lake, Alaska.
A muskrat.
Alaska scenery.
Ducks.
Today, (Sunday), we're headed back to Canada after a two night stay in Alaska. We're only got about 10 days left in the Yukon, and the best is yet to come!
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Our Zinus Memory Foam RV mattress deal is back at the cheap price again...Zinus Ultima Comfort Memory Foam Mattress
And in Canada... good deal on an external battery pack for your phone...
Aukey External Battery Pack
It looks so peaceful and quiet at the lake...beautiful view of mountains.
ReplyDeleteIt was a beautiful spot but not so peaceful and quiet with our neighbour's generator running for three hours in the early evening and then again for more than an hour the next morning! :-(
DeleteSherman will get dirty ... Again! If you return via Tok, Fast Eddies has a great salad bar, perhaps the best on the AK HiWay. So much fun following your adventure!
ReplyDeleteWe won't be returning to Tok until we come up north again and visit Alaska proper. This trip was just a passing through trip to get back into the Yukon.
DeleteGlad that you are enjoying our adventure. :-)
It looks peaceful and serene....minus the generator. I would hate to hear those while out camping. Safe travels!
ReplyDeleteIt was a beautiful place just not so serene at least not that particular time! Figures we would park right beside the only people in the park that had to run their generator. We love staying in campgrounds like this but that is the only problem when you stay in a campground without services, you risk having someone near you run a generator, that is why we tend to boondock somewhere where we are all alone.
DeleteGenerators anytime of day in campgrounds is rude!
ReplyDeleteWe think so too but not everyone has solar like us!
DeleteIt was nice to get some of that mud off Sherman with a free power wash, get stocked up and move on down the road, I don't understand running a generator for 3 hours, but have seen people doing it. But at least you got to set up your grill for supper.
ReplyDeleteYep, Sherman sure needed to get cleaned up, especially his undercarriage, the mud was really caked on there. We didn't get stocked up, that will wait until we get back to Whitehorse, we only bought essentials. Prices are still high around here and then you also have to add on the 30% exchange rate. We also had to be careful because we knew we were crossing the border and didn't want any produce or meat taken away.
DeleteWe don't understand why people have to run their generators that long either, especially if they only arrived that day and are leaving again the next day because the batteries should be full from that day's drive or will get topped up on the next day's drive.
When we were in Alaska several years ago it was 98F degrees at 11 o'clock at night. Much of Alaska was on fire. We took Top of world highway and there was still fire burning next to road. And we could not see any of the view. Also once we were back in Canada going south the highways were under repair and the dust on the car and RV was so thick we couldn't see the graphics on the vehicles. Great trip though.
ReplyDeleteSounds like we have been lucky to have had cooler days and more rain, the chance of fires up here this year has been pretty low, thank goodness. It would not have been nice to have seen fires burning and lots of smoke and not much scenery because of it.
DeleteWe aren't sure which is better, mud or dust, each has good and bad points.
We often dry camp at music festivals, the generators can be really bad. It seems worse in Texas, where people pull up in 5th wheels, the first thing they unload is a Champion jobsite generator and 4 or 5 jugs of gas. The only time they shut off is for refuelling. Curious, does Sherman still have a generator, and if so have you considered removing it?
ReplyDeleteYeah, most of those types are festivals are all out in fields and for a number of days at a time, something like some of the NASCAR races, a there are always tons of generators. It's scary when you see 4 or 5 gas cans coming out! We are so happy that we have solar.
DeleteYes, Sherman still has a generator, and yes we have thought about removing it but there are several reasons why we haven't. One, if we were to sell Sherman it is better for resale value. Two, it isn't all that easy to remove and if we did then a whole new compartment would have to be made to fill the space. Thirdly, the generator helps to act as a counterweight because it is quite heavy and if we removed it we would be way too light in the frontend because our two holding tanks and gas tank are all at the back of Sherman.
Great that the weather is much better and your almost back in Canada where your dollar will go further. Lovely scenery enjoy your stay.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is nice that the weather has improved. We were due to see more blue sky and sunshine! :-)
DeleteWe spent very little money in Alaska, other than our fuel, which even with the exchange rate was a better deal than in Canada.
Tok has happy memories for us. We met a French couple at one of the campgrounds there. They were Rving for 6 months around Alaska and the west coast. Met them in Paris the following year when we were Rving for two months in Europe. We have been friends and kept in touch since then.
ReplyDeleteLove hearing stories like that. We have also met people RVing that we have gone on to meet again and have a lasting friendship with. :-)
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