Arrived in Alaska today after driving the “Top of the World” Highway from Dawson City. After about 75 miles the spare-tire-in-can® sprung a leak, so I was forced to go to the more reliable spare-tire-from-the-trunk®. Also of note is that my supposed alignment trouble turned out to be nothing more than unbalanced tires — despite the fact that I used $6 worth of pressure wash yesterday trying to get all of the mud out of the tires, enough remained to seriously throw them out of balance. $4 more pressure wash allowed me to drive at fifty without too much shaking (improved from thirty before washing), although I finally had to take each individual tire off of the car and chisel out the remaining mud with a screwdriver before I could get up to highway speeds.
The first stop in Alaska was Fairbanks to patch the tire and get an oil change. I arrived too late to do either, and was going to stay outside of town, but instead opted to visit Alaska Land and their salmon bake. Three salmon fillets, fifteen halibut chunks, and two plates of blueberries later I’m feeling quite happy. The “camping” spot for the night is the parking lot of the K-Mart, so I’m hoping that the cops won’t feel the need to patrol the lot tonight.