Day 1 -North to Alaska - Eagle Mountain to Lethbridge AB

June 2, 2018 - Eagle Mountain to Lethbridge Alberta Canada - 780 miles

Our first day on the road to Alaska went perfectly according to plan. We pulled out at 5:59am just as the daylight began to fill the valleys in Utah.  We had decided not to make coffee at home so naturally our first stop was at the Maverik gas station 3 minutes down the road for a much needed break and my first cup of coffee.  14 minutes later we pulled out of the Maverik and went straight to the bank. Maverik's coffee is expensive.  Just kidding about that.  We had decided last night that we'd wait until this morning to pull our cash for the trip.  We left the ATM and headed for the highway. Normally weekday traffic on I-15 in Utah is brutal during rush hour but as today was Saturday and with two of us in the vehicle to utilize the HOV lane we cruised right on up the highway at full freeway speeds.

We made great time all the way up the freeway from Utah and through Idaho

with very minimal delays for construction and by 10:50 we had crossed the Continental Divide for the first time which is at the border of Idaho and Montana

a full 325 miles from our starting point in Eagle Mountain, Ut.  We didn't hit any delay of any significance until we had reached Butte, Mt where we had a short delay of about 10 minutes for construction. They had the road ahead closed down to one lane while they used some heavy equipment to trim away loose rocks from the mountainsides above the road.

Our first gas stop and lunch break wasn't until we reached Helena, Montana where I was pleased to see gas prices were lower than we had been paying in Utah.  Our car uses at least 87 octane and it was only $2.94 per gallon in Montana whereas we were paying around $3.25 per gallon in Utah.  I hope the prices continue to improve as we move further North.

We arrived at the Canadian border at 4:48 pm

so we were just a little under 11 hours at that point.  There was only one car in front of us and we moved through in under 5 minutes I think.  Debra took a couple pictures of the drug sniffing dog that checked out our vehicle or maybe they were of the Canadian border patrol agent who was handling the dog;  I'm not really sure.  Check out the photo so you can decide for yourself.

The speed limit on the freeway from the border to here in Lethbridge (AB4) is 110 kph which is the equivalent of 68 mph so it was a little slower than the 80 mph we had most of the way up here but still not too bad.  Our hotel here in Lethbridge in the Premier Inn & Suites just off the freeway.  The room is fairly nice with two queen beds so we get to stretch out and relax after the long day on the road.  We had dinner at a little restaurant right next door where I had a delicious liver and onions dinner before we came back to the hotel to settle in for the night.  This hotel also offers free breakfast so we will get our coffee here in the morning and head out for Day 2 tomorrow.

Happy Trails Everyone,

Tom & Debra.