May 21st. I woke up with a pretty bad sore throat. I think to myself, did I sleep too close to the doused fire? Why for the sore-ness? I make two coffees and get ready for the drive. Today we need to make a lot of miles. The old dog and old dad routine, finally gets going after about 2 hours of putting things away and breaking camp.

The road continues to be very bumpy, but now I am getting used to it. The permafrost in AK makes the roads rolly like the ocean, and eventually everyone who drives there becomes immune to the bad roads and just bump down them like a boat on the sea. Beautiful scenery today, sunny, and hardly any bugs. May is a great month in Alaska, the bugs have not arrived yet.

Today we made a really decent amount of miles. We turn onto the top-of-the-world highway past Tok, for what my dad promises to be way cooler than the main route. He says, "there's nothing that way other than black spruce swamps". This new highway is EXTREMELY bumpy. We see very few other cars. The going is very slow, but we keep on chewing through the miles. I make frequent stops to rest the dog, stretch our legs and enjoy the vast open-ness. It really does feel like you're at the top of the world here. We pass by Moon Lake, Mount Fairplay, and Chicken, Alaska. About 30 miles past chicken there was a good camp site, everyone is exhausted and we decide that is enough for the day.

I spend my time exploring the woods, watching the "camp robber" birds hop around, and building a fire for bbq. The camp robbers are so cute. They call to each other back and forth, telling each other which camp site has the best food to score. There was a really cool little forest dwelling that someone had made out of the tundra. I discover that there is a free gold-panning area near-by and I fall asleep with the hope of catching some gold in the morning at the creekside.

(This is a microblog replay of my journey, powered by shipyard.pub, scheduled posts will go out daily)

The last barrier has fallen. Humans are obsolete.

Spent Friday in the ER, gonna be okay just need to monitor some things going forward. Grateful to be here for my little man 🩵 Happy Mother’s Day, Mamas, pregnancy can really do a number on you! 😅