I would have thought that the border guard we had to pass to get into the U.S. would be at least as intimidating as the one to get into Canada, but maybe folks are chiller up here (or we maybe just got a nice guy.) We showed our passports and he asked us where we were coming from and where we were going. When Melissa said she lived in the van, he took a curious look inside, then he waved us on through.

And, I've now been in 43 states!

Same evergreens surrounding us, same little yellow and purple wildflowers, though the conditions of the road near the border were not great. Often, the center line disappeared entirely due to, we guessed, aggressive snowplowing. The U.S.-style speed limit signs welcomed us home. Everything back to miles! One of the first mileage signs we passed said, "Anchorage 420".

Notably, I saw not one single place to change money. I wonder if businesses near the border take Canadian dollars? Or...

We parked at a rest stop along a lake. The lot was huge and had two RVs already there as well as a pit toilet. We almost decided to stop for the night, then decided it was too early and kept going instead.

At 9pm, bright and sunny, we reached Tok! A dot on the map! The first campsite wanted $18/night for pit toilets. What? We kept going and ended up at Tundra for $30/night. Nice enough lot. No soap provided, though.

The rain pitter-pattered on the van roof pleasantly all night as we slept among the pines.

I woke up just before 8am. Which is 9am in Yukon. And 10am back home.

Last leg of our journey! And, yeah, I was starting to feel it. But, after such a long trip over an impressive distance, we were on schedule! My flight left the next afternoon, so we only needed to make it to the city.

At Tok, we departed the Alaska Highway about 100 miles short of the other end, Delta Junction. Instead, we headed southwest.

...yeah, there was almost nothing between Tok and Glenallen. Poor Melissa hadn't had any breakfast and we both needed to pee. We passed a few places that looked like they might be open but they were either abandoned, closed, had only pit toilets or port-o-potties, or specifically said "no restrooms." One sign that said "restroom" had an arrow that pointed to a wooden outhouse. What was going on here?

We came up with a guess when we were finally able to locate a restroom in a cute everything store. They said something like "We ship water in for the convenience of our customers" so I suppose there is a water shortage? That's why no flush toilets?

We made sure to purchase several beverages and snacks in return for the use of indoor plumbing.

One thing there wasn't a shortage of, though, was...

We rumbled along the bumpy roads, bouncing a lot. We appeared to be in swampland and Meli commented at one point: "Avoiding potholes is like playing reverse whack-a-mole."

Then, we passed some invisible line (a county line? or national park line?) and the speed limit jumped from 55 to 65, the condition instantly improving.

But I didn't really want to go fully 65 miles an hour 'cause...

The SCENERY. The freaking scenery.

I confirmed that we didn't have to go OVER the peaks to get to Anchorage. We were about two hours away at this point and, indeed, the peaks remained on the southern horizon as we drove.

We kept seeing signs with a capital "P" not for Parking but for Pull-out. I made Melissa stop several times for photos.

The speed limit dove down to 30mph as we went over some hilly ups and downs. One sign said, "Delaying over 5 vehicles is illegal. Use turnout lanes." which led me to wonder: if you have more than five cars lines up behind you but are going the posted speed limit, which is more illegal? Speeding or not delaying the five cars behind you?

About 45 minutes out from Anchorage, the internet became less spotty (not good, mind you, just less bad) and we hit a full-on interstate at rush hour which was, luckily, mostly going the other direction. I was counting down the miles, exhausted from driving. We were able to map our way to hotel Alex. (Notably, there is no Walmart camping allowed in the Anchorage city limits, but we already planned to splurge for our last night.) I unpacked my bag, which took some doing after a week (whew), and brought my bags up to our room. I checked into my flight and we caught up on social media while watching "Waitress". Then we walked to a teriyaki joint and we enjoyed a pile of edamame and a ton of chicken for dinner (yeah, protein!)

The Alex hotel (yay for showers) turned out to have a brilliant breakfast with waffles (organic maple syrup, even), eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy, and mini cinnamon rolls which I partook generously of before I embarked on the airport shuttle with several friendly couples I met in the lobby.

I wandered the airport before catching my flight back home to Denver.

That was my trip! For the next few nights afterward back home, I woke up thinking I was still on the road. I'd forget for several moments where I was (and wondering where Melissa was.) My vivid dreams startled me awake a few times. And my stomach protested after a week living off trail mix / munchies with the occasional hot meal. But otherwise, a great trip! Now I really know what it takes to drive from the lower 48, all the way through Canada, until Alaska.

That's what it took!