July 4, 2015, Monday: Chicken to Tok, Alaska

Happy 4^th and we are spending it in the USA! Still hazy, but somewhat improved. Had a nice breakfast, then walked over to the cafe for one of their monstrous cinnamon buns to go. Jack cruised through all the gift shops and then we hit the road. 

 We stopped at a viewpoint overlooking Chicken and the valley, but photos....well, you already know. We tried to stop at Chicken's historical post office (the mail plane comes in twice a week, depending on weather), but the lot was filled with trucks of folks attending a 4^th of July picnic.

 We could have gone, but decided to drive on to Tok, a big town of 1200 where we thought maybe a bigger 4^th of July celebration would be happening.

Massive fires in 2004 were evident for miles

So, we continued on the Taylor Highway until we met back up with the Alaska Highway and turned north. The smoke worsened again for a while, then improved as we got close to Tok. We stopped at the visitor center for info on the fires as we are trying to determine where to go in Alaska first, based on the fires, or possibly bag it all together. They told us the fires and smoke are definitely improving and are expected to do so as the massive fires are mostly under control. But, the map of fires shows hundreds burning all over Alaska – there is nowhere we can go that does not have some sort of fire burning. Weather reports look like air quality is improving, too, so we decided to soldier on and hope for the best.

A new bridge on the Alaska Highway in the distance that replaced the ones with the supports showing in lower right.

Their 4^th of July celebration was a simple picnic in a field that was pretty much over, so we skipped that, and found an decent RV park. Neighbor RVers told us about some entertainment at the RV park across the street, so after dinner I walked over and enjoyed a great singer who included country, oldies rock n roll, and coffee-house music, a few of which were sing-alongs. A fun time.