I'm never making the drive from Dawson Creek to Whitehorse by myself again. It was TOO long of a day. It was GORGEOUS... But it was too long. 17 hours is too much for one person. If I ever do that drive again, I'm either 1) going to have an RV so that I can stop at the rest stops and sleep instead of trying to get to a hotel, 2) going to have another driver with me so that we can share the driving and I have a human to talk to, or 3) all of the above.

I got onto the Alaska Highway as I was leaving Dawson Creek. I went to take a picture of the big "Welcome to the Alaska Highway" sign... And my camera died. Fail. I missed out on taking pictures of some AMAZING scenery along the highway. Double fail. The roads were windy and curvy and at some points, it was fun.

However, the whole being by myself thing comes back into play. I was bored. I had my music... all 190 songs. And I had my audiobook, which I listened to for about 5 hours.

Then it got dark, and I still had 3-3.5 hours left to go. That. Sucked. Darkness + mountain roads that twist and turn at random points = not a good experience. I was so scared I started talking to my grandparents, asking them to guide my car to Whitehorse in one piece. And I talked to them about random things, so that my mind wouldn't wander to what could have happened on that road. I finally made it to the hotel around 12:30 or 1:00 this morning... I can't even remember. I checked in and went to move my car, and then had to load up one of the luggage carts with all our stuff. I have so much stuff for one person and a cat. I had to use one of my room keys to operate the elevator, but my key wouldn't work. So I got another one that made the elevator work. I found our room, and none of the three keys I had would work on the door. So I had to go back down to the front desk. The guy at the front desk came up with me to make sure I could get into my room. I still couldn't, so he used his master key to open the door.

Harley likes to sit in windows and watch things going on, but the window here doesn't have a window sill... That frustrated him, and he tried to climb the curtains so he could hang and watch. But that didn't work. Finally I moved the curtains and put the desk chair against the wall, so that gave him a little bit of a lift.

Oh! Going back to the awful drive yesterday... The last place I stopped for gas before getting into Whitehorse was in Watson Creek. I've never been so glad to get to a place, and then, within minutes, be just as glad to get out. It was a sketchy place. I got gas and went in to pay, and the lady came to the counter, and then told me to hang on. She yelled to a lady in the back, asking her if she was busy, and told her to watch where this guy outside was going. She came back and apologized and told me she was ready for the day to be over. I started to say that I understood and I wanted the same, but she cut me off saying, "I'm sorry. Hang on... I need him to catch this guy." Finally she came back and started to make a phone call, but then hung up and started ringing up my gas purchase, and she started telling me about her day. "This has just been an awful day, and I can't wait to get out of here and go home and go to bed. We've been having problems today... One after the other.... Thieves. Bombs. Drunks. I wish I wasn't working today."

Excuse me?! Bombs? I started eyeing my car like every 15 seconds, as I'd left Harley in there while I ran in to pay. I got my change, ran to the restroom, and PEACED. THE. HELL. OUT. I didn't come all this way to be blown to smithereens. No thank you.

I need to go take a shower so I can check out and get back on the road. I get to sleep in my OWN bed tonight. I'm. So. Excited. I. Could. Pee.

:)