Texas to Alaska to Texas. 2020 Honda Accord Hybrid driving on the Dalton Highway and the Dempster Highway. July/August 2023.

[PetitFrereArmada]

I was supposed to sleep in Fairbanks, but I called and canceled my hostel. They told me it was too late and I would lose the money. I said no problem. I stopped and got gas in Fairbanks and was on my way towards Dawson City, not knowing that the Canadian border would be closed by the time I got there and I would end up sleeping in my car from 8pm until 9am the next day when the Canadian border reopens.
I got on the freeway, and the first quick stop was the North Pole to see Santa.

The next stop was Chicken, AK, where they told me I was too late and that the border was closed. Well, I was sad but took pictures and continued the last 1 hour drive to the border where I saw the gate closed and others sleeping in their cars. The time was about 10 pm. I spent a good 30 minutes or more taking pictures and walking around because I was not sleepy at all. Then I got into my car and was able to fall asleep until 5 am when I woke up. The border opens at 8 am.

Instead of going to sleep, I spent my time taking pictures and walking around.

I finally parked my car here and went to sleep

I woke up at 5 am and drove 2 miles to the border and was first at 6 am. I stayed there until 8 am. By that time, this couple pulled up behind me, and we started having a conversation until the gates were opened.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

I got into Canada and started the Top of the World Highway. It was a very beautiful but scary drive down to Dawson City. There is a lot of loose gravel. Be careful, or you will lose control of your vehicle and can have a very bad accident.

I enjoyed doing the Dalton Highway, but my car took a serious beating on that road. So much so that I have decided to skip the Dempster Highway. I talked to a few people by the sign who said the road is in good condition, but there is a lot of dust. The journey is longer than that of the Dalton Highway, especially since you have to wait to use 2 ferries to keep on going. Well, my car is filthy dirty from the Dalton Highway, and I had a flat tire. The good thing is I already have a budget to buy 4 brand new tires when I get back home for my car since my tires were getting close to needing replacement. I just went to the sign to take pictures and drove about 5 miles in and back. Those 5 miles were super easy and fast.

Later on this evening or say night, I we.t around taking random pictures of the colorful buildings here in Dawson City.

To see the whole of Dawson City, you drive up Dome road to the Dome.

 

[ITTOG]

From there, I went to get my flat tire repaired. They told me it would be $225 to repair my tire. After I collapsed and woke up, I asked to speak to the boss. The guy took me to the boss. I pleaded my case about the cost and my tire, and he was nice to let my tire be repaired for $100.

Did they explain why it was so expensive?

 

[checkmate]

Awesome pictures, thanks for posting.

A lot of people say the dempster is actually better than the dalton, I think I would have powered through being right there. Enjoy the rest of your trip.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Did they explain why it was so expensive?

They said basically because it was in Deadhorse, AK. Everything is very expensive there. The rate they charge when their tire technician is working on your tire is $100 an hour. He was estimating it would take him more than an hour to fix my tire, but it took him less than an hour to fix it.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Man, you are a driving machine. Congrats on making it to Deadhorse.

It is awesome that the truckers stopped to help. Did you ask if this is something that always happens on the Dalton? I am very curious about the history of this.

I did not ask them that particular question, but it seems that is something they do often. That is help anybody on the side of the road.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

I had a deja vu experience today. After about 30 minutes of driving after leaving Dawson City, I was on a straight stretch of road. I got a glimpse of someone pulling his cart with a small Japanese flag on it. It immediately hit me that I have seen something like this before. Yes, that is how I met Michael on the side of the road walking. This guy was different. I passed him and made a u-turn and came back.

I introduced myself and said I just stopped to say hi and find out about his journey. He immediately took out his cellphone and started recording us and everything we were talking about, and then he asked me to say something to the viewers. I did. He told me he has a page on Instagram and took my number that he will text it to me. I do not have Instagram to find him.

He told me his name is Sushi. He is Japanese. His English was not perfect, but we could communicate well enough.

He told me he flew from Japan to Alaska so he could achieve his goal of walking from the top of America to the bottom tip of Argentina. He told me that the journey would take him about 3 years to complete.

He landed in Alaska and flew to Deadhorse, AK. That is where he told me he started walking from. He is on his way to the bottom most part of Argentina.

I was lost for words. I asked him if he really plans to walk for 3 years? He told me yes. I wished him the best on his journey, and I gave him some money to support him.

He asked me to take a picture of his Instagram page just in case I could access it. It's all in Japanese, so I can not read it.

Then I bid him farewell as I was taking off. Last goodbye 👋

 

[04Ram2500Hemi]

This has been a cool journey to follow. I have to admit, a Honda Accord would not have been the first vehicle I’d pick for this adventure, but it’s cool to see how well it’s done.

 

[tlrols]

I got into Canada and started the Top of the World Highway. It was a very beautiful but scary drive down to Dawson City. There is a lot of loose gravel. Be careful, or you will lose control of your vehicle and can have a very bad accident.

I enjoyed doing the Dalton Highway, but my car took a serious beating on that road. So much so that I have decided to skip the Dempster Highway. I talked to a few people by the sign who said the road is in good condition, but there is a lot of dust. The journey is longer than that of the Dalton Highway, especially since you have to wait to use 2 ferries to keep on going. Well, my car is filthy dirty from the Dalton Highway, and I had a flat tire. The good thing is I already have a budget to buy 4 brand new tires when I get back home for my car since my tires were getting close to needing replacement. I just went to the sign to take pictures and drove about 5 miles in and back. Those 5 miles were super easy and fast.

Later on this evening or say night, I we.t around taking random pictures of the colorful buildings here in Dawson City.

To see the whole of Dawson City, you drive up Dome road to the Dome.

Sounds like the Dalton is presently rougher than the Dempster. I just did the Dempster with no issues although there are sporadic fires near it.

 

[tlrols]

I saw this guy and was like ******…now I know the story

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

This has been a cool journey to follow. I have to admit, a Honda Accord would not have been the first vehicle I’d pick for this adventure, but it’s cool to see how well it’s done.

My Honda Accord is my one and only vehicle right now. I made sure it would handle what I would throw at it before embarking on this journey. It has truly been a trooper! The main downside about it is that I am not very comfortable in the driver seat like I was in my 2008 Maxima or my 2012 Infiniti QX. Well, I can not compare it to my QX because my QX was a luxury suv, and the seats were very comfortable.

Other than that, the Accord's best quality is the amazing gas mileage it gets. It has a 12.8 gallons gas tank but it easily gets 500 miles to the tank. My former gas guzzler, my 2012 Infiniti QX, had a 26 gallons gas tank, but that could give me only 370 miles per tank of premium fuel. The Accord has saved me so much money on gas on this trip and since I bought it.

Using the Accord is also to let others know that just use what you have. You do not have to wait to buy a fancy vehicle to go out and travel.

On this trip, I have met people traveling on foot, on bicycles, on motorcycles, in cars, in suvs, in camper vans, and all other kinds of luxurious means of traveling.

Let some people not be influenced by how fancy other peoples cars look or by all the new cars and gadgets on social media. Get what you can afford and enjoy yourself. Live within your means and avoid debt as much as possible. The same goes with life. Try not to keep up with others. Do you within your means. The main goal is to live YOUR best life (enjoy yourself) but avoid getting into debt as much as possible.

 

[jackflash]

You are a true inspiration! Thank you.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Steve and Lynne first noticed my car when I happened to be driving in front of them in Glacier National Park. Since my car looked unique to them, they had a conversation about it and then I guess they stopped and I went away. Later that day I met them randomly at a gas station at the entrance of the park where my car was not in sight for them to know I was the one driving the car they were talking about earlier.

We struck up a conversation and it was nice getting to know each other. Steve disappeared for a minute and came back with a big ice cream for me. I thanked him and enjoyed eating the ice cream. I told them I was blogging about my trip and so we exchanged numbers and I sent them a link to my blog.

Steve kept in touch with me and enjoys reading my blog. One day, he contacted me and told me that if I am coming through his city, they can host me for the night. Well, I contacted him and said I will be passing through his town and wanted to know if that offer was still available. He said, “Sure. Come on over. We will prepare a room for you, a meal for you and you will park your car in our garage so that it is safe.”

Yesterday, I took the long drive to visit them, and they were the most hospitable people ever. They kept in touch with me during the trip to make sure I was safe, and sound and I got there safe and sound. They showed me to the room they had prepared for me in their house, and then they gave me a small tour of their very beautiful home. We all sat at the island in the kitchen as Lynne made me a yummy dinner. We spent the time talking in the kitchen and getting to know a lot more about each other. We talked for some time until it was bedtime, where I went and had a very restful sleep. The next day, which was today, I woke up early, took a shower and got ready quickly, to leave for another long drive. They made me breakfast and packed me a lunch bag for the long drive of today. We said our goodbyes and I thanked them a lot for inviting me; a complete stranger, into their house. It was a very unique experience, indeed!

Thanks a lot Steve and Lynne.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

I have some pictures that I wanted to add that were some cool experiences during my trip.

Deadhorse
I wanted to sleep in my car but I got very cold that I decided to get a hotel room. I tried the first place, and they were sold out. I called the next hotel, and they wanted $175 for the room for the night. I made sure to negotiate because I told them I was barely going to stay the night. They accepted $100 cash. I went there and it was a great experience since they showed me to their cafeteria and said food was free and I can eat as much as I wanted. Well, I did exactly that before going to bed and did the same thing in the morning before I left.
This hotel was sold out

I slept at this hotel, which offered free unlimited food. I made sure to participate.

The price of gas in Deadhorse was surprisingly cheaper than the price in Coldfoot

Dawson City
I really liked the design of the hotel here and how colorful the building was. I had a very simple room and this is the cheapest hotel in town. They have shared bathrooms. 4 showers next to each other for male and female. 4 toilets next to each other for male and female. The good thing is that you can go into your shower and lock the door to that shower. But you are next to each other as you shower or use the toilet. To brush your teeth and use the sink, there are 4 sinks, and you stand there next to a female or a male since it is a mixed shared restroom.

Swift River, Yukon
The most interesting hotel I have ever stayed at was in Swift Tiver, Yukon. It is called the Continental Divide Lodge. It is kind of in the middle of nowhere. I was driving on my way back on the Alaska Highway and had gotten really tired. I saw this place online and called ahead, and they said they had rooms available. You can check yourself in and pay the next day. It is an honor system after they close. They just leave the keys to the rooms there and the rooms unlocked. You come and choose your own room and the next day you pay at the front desk as from 8am. If you are leaving the hotel before 8am, they count on you to be honest to leave your credit card information so they can charge you. Here are pictures of everything.

All the rooms at the hotel stay open until a customer chooses a room and a key. Some of the rooms have shared bathrooms between 2 rooms. When using the restroom, you lock the other person's access door. When done, you unlock their latch, and you go into your own room and lock your own access door to the restroom.

Along the Alska Highway after leaving The Continental Divide Lodge, there were a lot of these mountain goats eating salt from the roads. This was near the whole area of Muncho Lake. Almost every curve, you would see them.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Dawson City.
A cop was putting somebody in handcuffs while his girlfriend was sitting in the car at the wheel and crying. I have no idea what happened. They stopped in the middle of the bridge. The cop drove past me when I stopped to take pictures. About 10 minutes later, I was at the bridge and saw this scene. The guy was black, and the girl was Asian. She was behind the wheel in the red car sobbing as I passed by and looked over.

When I was leaving Dawson City a few days ago, there was very heavy smoke. The road looked foggy from all the widespread smoke. Air quality was very poor as I could breathe the smoke even with my windows up and the ac on. I turned on the radio and they said they have started evacuations from certain areas, planes cannot land, they have air purifiers to help improve the quality of the air and they have masks available for anybody who wants to stop by and get some. It was really bad.