Overpriced.
We rented an overpriced SUV, stayed at a few overpriced campgrounds, were bit by a few overfed mosquitoes (the size of birds), bought a few overpriced lunches and dinners, stocked up on overpriced groceries, bought overpriced gas and broiled in the overhot sun. Hmm.
Our wildlife count wasn’t too bad:
Moose, grazing - 2 (one coming by for grazing a few yards from our first campsite.. big mama… we backed off)
Bald Eagles, soaring - 4
Beavers, swimming - 2
Red Squirrels, tree climbing - 4 (at Squirrel Creek Campground making it an appropriately named stop)
Gray Squirrel, theiving - 1
Our close up exposure to forest fire was higher than expected:
Steese Hwy was intermittently closed
Our close up inspection of locals was scarier than expected:
The ‘brew pub’ we stopped by for dinner didn’t get us in the door, as we watched a big guy with unwashed long hair in stripped overalls with no shirt on with bad tattoos covering his bulging arms, um, stagger (that invokes more balance than he really warranted) out the dingy front door. Well, so much for Lonely Planet restaurant recommendations.
Our exposure to gravel on the finished highways was brutal:
Ding on Windshield, small - 1 (first day of driving)
Ding on Windshield, large crack - 1 (third day of driving, excluded by Avis rental agreement… of course)
Did I mention Alaska is overpriced?
