All's Well that Ends Well with chicken in CHICKEN, AK

8-15-12

Top of the World Hwy. (it was)

A huge and steep dirt road hill faced us in the morning, right out of camp, and a few folks struggled to get to the top. We were now on the Top of the World highway, and indeed it was beautiful but filled with many hairpin turns and steep inclines and hills. Just before we reached Alaska, we got word from the back that one of the jeeps had rolled over! Fortunately, they rolled toward the inside of the hill, had a roll bar and even though the windshield shattered, no one was hurt and by that evening, the jeep was back on the road again. There is great wisdom in having a maintenance crew follow all the units. Until the night stop, the Jeep rode on the back of a trailer but the fellow had brought a sheet of plexiglass so the new windshield, after some straightening, was duct taped into the frame.

On the 11th day, we arrive!

Jeep had a windshield and ran by dinner.

Of course the convoy had slowed for this challenging road but then we waited for the doctor in our unit to check out the two fellows, with no scratches at all, and for us all to catch up. The rest of the day, we all reflected on our good fortune and also probably became more alert drivers. They think the fellow hit a soft spot on the side and his trailer just pulled him over.

We arrived in Chicken, Alaska at about 3:30 p.m. The first order of business in a convoy is to get all the vehicles refueled, then find campsites, and then start to relax. Four of us paid to have a young women give us a tour of old town Chicken which has been made a bit famous by the book Tisha, written by a young pioneering inexperienced, young teacher who came to to the town and then wrote a book about her experiences with the natives, the half-breeds, and the citizens. It is a good read full of the early history of Alaska, and I highly recommend the book. Her home/school house still exists but the floors are very wavy from the heaving of the permafrost, and the building is in disrepair as are all the buildings in the old town.

All of downtown chicken

Tisha's school & home in old chicken

Our friend Rooster, finds several friends!! 

 Later, we had an excellent barbequed chicken and homemade pie in downtown Chicken which is one gas station, two campgrounds and a string of buildings that house a gift shop, liquor store, bar, chicken yard, and the restaurant. Yes, I said a chicken yard, Rhode Island Reds! We had fun taking pictures of the gigantic metal chicken set up on a hill in front of the town. One of our unit leaders is nicknamed Rooster, since he has that sound of horn on his vehicle. Check out our picture. We laughed a good deal that night and some even had a few more drinks, I guess partly in appreciation of our good luck to be alive and having fun, after our earlier scare.