the journey : part two, by land

Heading out of Homer, we caught a post office drop box and then Keith white-knuckled it all the way to Anchorage, as the driving conditions were less than favorable. It was dark (before ten thirty am). There was lots of snow on the road, and lots of wind changing the topography of the surfaces continuously. We passed a sign for "Whittier 15 miles." We had just been there on the boat...four days earlier. We shook the thought of the entire 2370 mile trip at 3.75 miles per day.
Once in Anchorage we got off the "highway" one maybe two lane road for some tire chains, far cheaper than snow tires that we thought we might need for the Ester Dome incline in Fairbanks. We didn't have chai at the Starbucks across the street. No we didn't.
It was more white knuckles for Keith into Talkeetna. We spotted a few moose along the road. Which I had pegged for lawn ornaments, until they twisted their heads to eat some bushes. Right. No lawns for miles. And we should have been heeding the signs anyways: Caution Moose Browsing. No such thing as literate lawn ornaments.
In Talkeetna we stayed in a cabin, with a view of Denali across the river. We ate really good pizza at Mile High Pizza Pie, while we worked out checkers strategy. Really good pizza.
The next morning we headed North again with spectacular views of Denali at every turn. Once past it the weather stiffened everything on the car...and pausing to look back at the sunset behind the mountains we didn't know what to expect when we opened the car door. But it wasn't so bad. Not nearly the lows we'd see in just a few days.
We made it right up Ester Dome with no chains, and met Aunt April. April and Merritt have a beautiful spot with a view purported to be the size of Ireland. At the very least it is that impressive. She let us into the garage to tune the engine to the cold as best we could...we arrived to thirty below in Fairbanks. We also tried on the snow tires, and used them when we headed down the hill. Then we tried to take them off.
Not using all the brain power we should have, we got one of the chains stuck around the axle. In thin socks, and thin layers we tried to loosen the chain. It was quickly clear how fast you can get yourself in trouble in this weather. Even in what they like to call "urban Alaska." Noses were turing white, fingers stiffening, boogers freezing. Though on the other hand we were twice asked if we needed help. No one was going to let us freeze. Keith got us out of the sticky situation and I've worn long-underwear every single day since.
We spent a very comfortable week at Susan's and Gary's, aunt and uncle by proxy. They were incredibly hospitable and we got lots of errands done, in preparation for part three of the journey, by air.