It's the Germans!

Made it! White Horse, YK. Seems pleasant enough. Splurged on the hotel, really needed a shower. And I figured I'd get some laundry in. And WiFi all night through!

About an hour into my first lovely drive high up in the mountains, I came across some serious construction. It was down to one lane total, so they were stopping traffic one way at a time. I was stopped for about 15 minutes... One of those turn-off-the-car-get-out-and-meet-the-neighbors kind of stops.

I noticed right away that the car in front of me was from Utah. Other Americans! And SO American- a big pickup truck hauling an SUV on a trailer. (If only a Hummer was hauling them all it would be some kind of gas-guzzling vehicular Turducken.) Mom, Dad, two kids. Dad looked about my age with a blond crew cut and muscular. Über-American. I was interested in chatting, but I've just been more and more shy lately. And everyone's been so grumpy up here. And I hate bothering people.

I wandered a bit, happy to be out of the truck. Another car pulled up behind. Canadian. Three people got out. Two guys with neck tattoos and a rather beautiful woman. Why do beautiful women always go for guys with neck tattoos? Anyway, they seemed less than friendly.

I noticed the Utah mom had an accent. German, maybe? That didn't fit with the hyper 'Merican image I had concocted... They all herded into the car because there were TONS of bees and the kids were scared. Dad got out to grab something from the SUV, which they were cleverly using for storage. I made some crack about it being an unusual choice for packing, which he laughed at, and then asked if I was from Oregon. And away we were...

I never got his name, cause I always forget to do that. He's a military guy who just got transferred to Alaska from Utah. He's from Idaho, but has been stationed all over- Florida, Germany (Ah ha! That explains the accented lady!) He'd passed through the gauntlet of gravel yesterday, and though it was less treacherous during the day, he still cracked the windshields on both cars... Longest conversation I'd had in three days.

We got ready to go in our caravan. We'd had a long wait, so we knew that we'd have a long time in the construction... The first thing I see? 'Loose Gravel.'

It was less scary during the day.

In fact the only scary bit was when the neck tattoo twins zipped DOWN THE CLOSED LANE to pass me and the Utah family. I knew I didn't like those guys.

Oh, and I think I've solved the mystery. Canadians aren't super nice, there are just a lot of super-nice GERMANS living in Canada. I met three today! The lady at the tourist center in Watson Lake was SO helpful. And the night desk guy at this hotel is very kind, even if he doesn't have a clue what restaurants are open late. So many Germans! (And for some reason the laundry instructions are in English and German, not French...)

Also, I saw a Bison. A wild one. Snacking on the side of the road.

So goodnight from a real bed. See you all in Alaska tomorrow. Such a long drive to end up back in the US.