SLEEP WELL

Woke up yesterday morning in a bed, in a bedroom, in Anchorage, AK. I drove in Friday night from Haines Junction, Yukon Territory. It’s sort of a mind trick with all the daylight. You start early, like 5:00 a,m. when the sun is already on its arc and you’ve covered a hundred kilometers before you realize that you haven’t eaten yet. Much later in the day the sun is high, you’re pushing 500 K with another 500 to go and all the bad road has become the norm. My pattern was, eat a traditional, restaurant breakfast then munch on fruit, trail mix and jerky the rest of the day: refill water bottles at fuel stops and try to keep moving. Time of day doesn’t register on my internal clock; still set on how high the sun, how long the shadows. 

All along, the word was that the last 1000 K / 600 miles takes 14 hours. So it was considered that I might want to break it into two parts. Frost Heaving under the pavement creates expansion-contraction that results in wave action, roller coaster bumps that can wreck you. Sometimes they are hard to see and you find yourself standing on the breaks to avoid being launched like a jet off an aircraft carrier. You get tired of being on and off the brakes all the time and just drive slow. So on a clear day with good looking road and 65 mph limit, driving 35 mph makes sense.

Going through U.S. Customs serves notice that we are off the kilometer and liter standard, back on miles and gallons. But without breaking for meals, the sun is still high in the sky at 7:00 p.m. and you’re not feeling the need to shut down. The road looks a lot better but Frost Heave is still an issue. In and out of rain showers, the scenery had been beautiful with lots of photo stops. Was wondering just how far I’d get before I felt the need for sleep. At a fuel stop I realized it was under an hour to Palmer and another 45 minutes to Anchorage. I checked the time, adjusted for a cat nap I took in Beaver Creek, on the Canadian side and gaining an hour with Alaska time and sure enough, it would be 14 hours.

About then my daughter called, first time my phone had rang in over a week; wanted to know where I was. She said, “Wow . . . I figured you would be here tomorrow sometime: now I have to hurry up, clean house and make your bed." By the time I got the camper parked and unpacked, did the hugs and small talk, it was time to put my head down on the pillow. It was after 11:00 and daylight was still hanging outside the window.

Saturday was a sleep late day and I slept very well, thank you. Had to do some laundry and run some errands, then drove out on Turnagain Arm to a favorite restaurant for a plate full of their famous, sweet potato fries. I have arrived.