The road to here zip

More on that later. During the planning phase for the Alaska Highway, the Cassiar route was preferred by U. The Canadians prevailed and so today the Cassiar is little more than a winding logging road traveling through high country that is wintery most of the year. Its painted lines are barely discernible, if at all, and there are no shoulders or rumble strips.

Much of the narrow road perches atop steep embankments dropping off into rivers or lakes. But it is a decent shortcut from Washington to Alaska during summer months.

This will change once you reach Haines Junction. To be sure, the approach to this section will strike awe as you come face to face with the first behemoth sentinels of the Wrangell-St. Elias Mountains. These mountains are so formidable that by necessity the highway is forced north, around them first through Kluane Provincial Park , before heading into Alaska.

However, Haines Junction also marks the beginning of a frost-heaved stretch of highway. Well, its a depression in the road that can, if well-formed and executed at the right speed, launch wheels airborne to varying heights.

Frost heaves appear at a demarcation zone up north, where the earth is in a permanent state of semi-frozeness. Anything built onto or sunk into it will be spit out with the freeze-thaw cycles, such as building foundations, electric poles… and roads. On the most recent trip through this stretch, I began to classify frost heaves into two types: Tummy Ticklers—the gentle rollers, and Spine Crunchers— which will keep your chiropractor and mechanic in business.

In either case, if traveling in an RV of any sort, expect your cupboards to look like tossed salad at the end of the day. Most of it will be on the Canadian side, but rest assured, Canadians mark severe heaves with flags or cones.

To astronauts aboard the space station miles up, White Sands National Park looks like a splash of spilled milk across the Chihuahuan Desert in south Like a sparrow blown off course by the winter winds, I have been languishing since last weekend on South Padre Island, where even the pigeons look Heading east on I, just across the California border into southern Arizona, Quartzsite sits quiet and unremarkable under a layer of desert dust most of the The desert is a seemingly simple place.

Until two nights ago, I knew nothing about packrats. That was a time of innocence. The Road to Here. Mississippi is a mournful state. I can feel its hurtful history in my bones. Continue reading December 10, Travel. November 22, Travel. October 6, Travel. August 24, Travel.