Alaska Highway Journey
an introduction . . .

So why did we attempt this crazy journey? It was partly because of my fascination with the arctic, which dates back to 1982 when I was in high school. It was about 1990 when I thought about actually taking this trip, but I wanted to wait until I had a solid, reliable car.

Things started coming together in early 1999, and our original plan was to start at the Gulf of Mexico and end at the Arctic Ocean, totally by ground, which meant driving from Galveston, TX to Prudhoe Bay, AK. However in the interest of convenience and sanity, we finally decided it would be better to omit the 10-hour roundtrip Dallas-Galveston drive and omit the 36-hour roundtrip Fairbanks-Prudhoe Bay drive. The result? We would simply drive from Dallas to Fairbanks. Then we would fly to Barrow at the shores of the Arctic Ocean. Barrow offered more history and culture than Prudhoe Bay, anyway, and we wouldn't have to depend on some mandatory oilfield tour to get us to the Arctic Ocean shore.

The value of a travel log was partly inspired by Fred McClelland's outstanding cross-country bike log, which you can check out by clicking here. I've always loved travelling, but Fred's absorbing essay and photos showed how strongly an experience can be shared with others. Thanks, Fred!

Now on to the story...