Gabi On The Go: Day 6 - Friday, August 07

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Day 6 - Friday, August 07

Hangover!!!

But we left anyway after breakfast heading to Fairbanks. We drove on the Top of The World highway and in one hour we crossed with Alaska. It has this name because you really feel like you are in the top of the world because it is so high and even the tall tree are way bellow you. But this part was the worst drive in my life due to forest fires. We never saw flames, but smoke took over everywhere and at one point, close to the Canada US border, I was driving 40 km/h, and seeing no more than 20 feet ahead of me. I felt sick!

The scariest part is that we barely saw cars coming in the opposite directions, which made us think that we should turn around and go run away from the possible flames. But very soon we were at the border and the agent in the Canadian side secured us that there was no danger. I was so nervous that I have to go really bad, right there at the border! Sorry about the details, but I needed to tell you guys the extension of my fear! After this grand entrance in American soil, we kept going through smoke. It was bad for a while, but by Km 300 started to clean up a bit. The road was loose gravel, in a really bad condition and completely empty again. In the first hours we saw only 13 cars, and another 32 cars in the second hour. Yes, we counted, because it was so odd being the only on the road for a long time.

Things started getting busier when we approached Fairbanks. This is the second biggest city in Alaska. The population is about 35 thousand people and Fairbanks is home to the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the oldest college in Alaska. But after driving almost 2 hours looking for a place to stay, Mike and I decided that we didn’t really want to stay over there. Maybe it was because we haven’t been in a big city for a while, but Fairbanks didn’t appeal to us that much. Since it was very bright still and both of us were not that tired, we decided to keep driving.