We got on the road this morning headed for Tok, Alaska. We knew that while it would not be as long of a travel day, it would be a very challenging one. The stretch of road we would be driving on was known to be the absolute worst for frost heaves. After driving it, I can see why.

Not long into the drive, we saw a beautiful caribou on the side of the road. Of course, we pulled over to get some pictures. He was pretty far back there, but I managed to get one fairly decent photograph of him. So beautiful.

Today we made it into Alaska! Whooo! Hooooo! This is the moment we have worked so hard for right here!

If you’ve never heard of a frost heave, the layman’s description is that they are large dips and potholes (that would make Atlanta’s look like child’s play) in the road. They are created because of the harsh winters here and because of the way the roads are constructed over permafrost.

I am putting a link below to an article that talks about driving on frost heaves in an RV that will give you a far better understanding than I ever could.

https://www.aboutrving.com/rving-to-alaska/spotting-and-driving-over-frost-heaves/

We knew about frost heaves. We read about them. We watched Alaska YouTube road tripper videos about them. Nothing prepares you for the actuality of them, though! It’s one of those “if you know, you know” kinda things for sure. They go on for hundreds of miles, and you don’t always see them.

There are many stories of broken axles, blown tires, and other problems people experience as a result of driving over all the frost heaves. Our RV tech in Georgia said they see RV’s in their shop all the time that have shaken apart from the trips to Alaska

And the dust on these roads is heavy. As the road crews try to fix the frost heaves, there are stretches that go back and forth from gravel to pavement. The gravel is loose and dusty for sure. We had a fine layer of dust pretty much everywhere in Tramper when we ended the travel day. We were warned! They were right!

This dust is nothing. There were times we couldn’t even see Mary and John’s camper ahead of us.

We landed at Sourdough Campground in Tok, Alaska early enough to enjoy some real down time, cook dinner, get some ice cream. We caught all sorts of grief from Tim, the owner, about eating the last of his favorite ice cream for the rest of the trip. He is hilarious.

https://www.sourdoughcampground.com/

And then . . . It was time for the pancake toss. I never knew one could have so much fun tossing pancakes into a bucket. Actually, I never knew that was even a thing. But at Sourdough Campground, it is very much a thing, and it occurs every night at 7:30 p.m. during open season.

It was so much fun. The owner did such a fantastic job engaging everyone, and it turned out to be a highlight of the trip. If you toss two pancakes into the bucket successfully, you got $10 off on a pancake breakfast the next day

Here’s Mary when it was her turn to toss the pancakes. Trust me, there’s an art to this. We are all showing off our loser chips, because none of us won. It’s not easy.

What a great night. If anyone is ever looking for a campground in Tok, Alaska, look no further. This is definitely it!

In the morning, we head to Fairbanks for a couple of days.