From our cabin in "North Pole," we started our long journey home across the thawing tundra of central Alaska and the Yukon, passing giant mountains, endless forests and the world's largest gold pan. At one point, Aili had to break hard as a galloping grizzly tried to cross the road right in front of us. He swerved abruptly and ran alongside the car at full speed for a good 100 meters. We finally passed him and he crossed behind us, charging into the woods - what a sight! We stayed a night in Tok, Alaska, then Whitehorse, the capitol of the Yukon Territory, located on the banks of the rushing Yukon river just before it arcs north into the Arctic toward the Bearing Sea. Andrew left us for a rail trip over White Pass to Sagway and we continued southeast and across the Yukon, finally dipping back into British Columbia. We passed small herds of bison and caribou grazing along the road... and occasionally on the road! We stopped for a bit at Watson Lake, a small town in the middle of nowhere famous for its sign forest - travelers from all over the world have posted signs around the visitor center which now number in the thousands. We saw a short film on the Aurora Borealis - the Northern Lights - which are spectacular here in the winter. We camped for the night just down the road at Laird River Provincial Park where natural hot springs run into a creek in the forest just beyond camp. We poured a couple cups of wine and hiked down the boardwalk braving the mosquitoes. Ahhh... perfect water temperature, nice wine and clear, starry skies... now this is camping! The next two days consisted of more endless driving through mountains and forests. We crossed the Salmon Range and the very northern edge of the Rocky Mountains, then through rolling hills across alliterately named rivers such as Brook's Brook and Georges' Gorge. After ten hours of driving, we only passed through two small towns and one intersection - a gravel road leading to the Northwest Territories. The vastness of the Yukon and the British Columbia interior is staggering. Forests of stunted spruce, willow bush and alder stretch to the horizon in every direction and idyllic rivers and lakes are void of any development. B.C. alone is bigger than California, Oregon and Washington combined - I had read that once before but only now, traversing the entire province, do I comprehend those words. We stopped in Ft. St. John for the night and the next day completed the entire 1,522-mile Alaskan Highway in Dawson Creek (technically "Mile 0" since we drove from finish to start). On Sunday, we entered the Rocky Mountains for a two night stay in the elegant Jasper Park Lodge - a welcome pampering to ourselves after weeks of travel.