Sunday, July 5th, leaving Alaska

We tried to go to church on Sunday at the local Baptist church in Tok after checking out of the Sourdough RV park. It seems the church is not having services at this time because we could not find anyone there and there were no posted service times. We sadly drove out of town knowing Alaska was behind us, probably forever. We doubt we ever get to come this way again. After we drove about an hour or so, we crossed into the Canadian province of the Yukon once again and then went through customs about an hour after that. We had no problem, but for the first time they asked us about a pet. We showed Sylvia's papers and went on through. We knew the drive ahead of us was not very pretty because it was the same way we had entered Alaska just two weeks earlier.

We did find a nice place to spend the night near a river bed. Four other campers stayed there with us so we felt safe. Before bedtime I wandered out to the viewing platform near the river to read about the area on the signs posted there. Then a man drove up and stood there with his binoculars and said he was a bird watcher. I could tell he was native to the area and asked him if he lived nearby. He said he does, that he had lived here most of his life and used the land to support himself in various ways - trapping, hunting, etc. He said he is now retired and just enjoying his "peoples' land". It was nice to talk to him about the area wildlife because he knew that most of the animals were decreasing each year in numbers except the swans. He said for some reason they are encreasing in numbers. We talked with several other couples who stopped by the viewing spot and also met an interesting couple from New Jersey. This is their third trip to Alaska and they thoroughly enjoy coming this way. Bob proudly showed us the RV he made from an old city bus from the 60s. He took out the seats, put in a fridge, stove and lovely cabinets. He and his wife enjoy their RV so much even though it does not have a slide. It is just right for them with a bedroom in back, a toilet area (but no shower), lots of cubbords and cabinets for storage and a couch and two chairs. It really is nice and the cabinet work is beautiful! It is a deisel engine and Bob says he was a deisel mechanic so he has no problem keeping it running. It has a nice murial on the back window - a picture of the back of his RV, with a window with a picture of the back of the RV. Very cute!