Thursday, June 4

We stopped Wednesday night in Nelchina (halfway between Palmer and Glenallen) at the Nelchina Lodge. We would recommend this place to anyone. It was clean and cheap and very nicely done for a highway roadhouse. We were the only occupants, and don't know if the tourist season just hasn't started or if Alaska's visitor industry is in a world of hurt this summer. We met fewer than 50 vehicles heading down the highway and could count on one hand the number of vehicles we saw headed out. There's a long stretch of road between Palmer and Nelchina and the Matanuska Glacier lies smack dab between the two. There were only a few campers to be seen in and around the Glacier turnoffs and tourist traps.

Thursday morning, we struck out again, hoping to make it through the border and as far as Kluane Lake. Annie has taken to the road better than we had even dared to hope, as long as we stop every few hours and can get out and move around a little bit. The temperature from Tok into the Yukon rose dramatically. By the time we got to Burwash Landing, on Kluane Lake, it was in the mid-80's.

Here's a picture of Annie stretching her legs and another of Kluane Lake, still half covered in ice. The guy at the lodge said he had had pipes freezing a

week ago. Now it's in the 80's every day and the ice is going fast.