Leaving Alaska

Rob and I spent a couple of days back in Fairbanks, recovering from our Haul Road trip and preparing my rig for the long drive south on the AlCan back to Seattle.

Before leaving Fairbanks, I encouraged Rob to give some serious thought to whether or not he really wanted to stay with me for the eight long days of driving that the AlCan requires. We'd had a great time on the drives from Anchorage to Fairbanks and on the Haul Road, but I warned him that the AlCan is something else entirely. I also pointed out that Fairbanks is an easy place to fly out of (hint, hint). He said he wanted to "give it a go", so we set off.

During our first two days, we got to enjoy many beautiful vistas. We also, however, had to endure the rough roads and constant parade of heavy trucks which zoom by, kicking up dust and gravel. Facing the prospect of six more days of it can do funny things to your brain.

So, I brought the subject up again when we got to Haines Junction yesterday. I reassured him that it was really okay with me if he wanted to bail, and pointed out that our pass through Whitehorse today would be the last opportunity he'd have to fly out if he wanted to.

He confessed that while he really didn't want to "abandon ship", he was pretty worn out. Plus, he'd already been away from home for two weeks and was feeling some pressure to get back and take care of business. I reassured him that he had already gone "above and beyond" and that I was good to go for a solo return. He made what I think is a good decision to fly out, and we toasted our very enjoyable and successful road trip together.

We pulled into Whitehorse this morning, got him a seat on a pair of Air Canada flights to Seattle and said farewell. I've motored down the road to Watson Lake and called it a day. I'll probably just set my jaw and push on from here, probably not posting anything until I get back to Seattle.