You are currently viewing Prudhoe Bay to Buenos Aires with a Jeep and Cat
Eddie Bauer tweed skirt, Vince Camuto boots, silk scarf, DIY earrings, Rebecca Collins black and white necklace (all own), ribbed knit dress c/o Femme Luxe and tights c/o Hipstik

When I was a teenager my retirement travel plans were to drive the Pan-American Highway from Prudhoe Bay to Buenos Aires with a Jeep and cat. Read more about my virtual tour.

Contents
  1. Retirement Journey Dream: Pan-American Highway from Prudhoe Bay to Buenos Aires
  2. North America
    • Alaska Prudhoe Bay
    • Cold Foot in Alaska
    • Down the Richardson Highway to the ALCAN
    • Yukon Territory at Mile 1182
    • Canada, British Columbia towards Dawson Creek
    • Lower 48
  3. Central America
    • Darién Gap – to Drive or Not to Drive
  4. South America
    • Lama, Inka Ruins, and Aliens
    • Crossing the Equator
    • Valparaiso to Buenos Aires
  5. Travel Outfit
  6. Top of the World Style linkup No. 252

 

Disclosure: There are affiliate links in this post.

 

Retirement journey dream: Pan-American Highway from Prudhoe Bay to Buenos Aires

When I was a teenager, my dream was to drive down the Pan-American Highway from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Tierra del Fuego when I would retire at 60.  The journey would be in a Jeep with a fabric top. The top would serve as sort of a hammock to sleep on at night. In rainy or cold nights, I would sleep in the back of the car using it diagonal. My travel companion would be a tomcat. More on my cats.

tomcat walking

 

North America

Alaska Prudhoe Bay

The Pan-American Highway is a road network of about 19000 miles (30000 km) across the Americanas thru 14 countries. The first stretch is the unpaved Dalton Highway built during the years of the construction of the Alaska pipeline. It’s an unpaved road for most of its length giving view on the pipeline left and right. Sometimes the pipeline goes underground. The road barely permits the encounter of two trucks without collision.

After hours of driving thru flat terrain with nothing but shrubbed tundra and bogs, the terrain changes to rolling, and turns into steep mountains once you reach the Brooks Range. The dirt road goes over the Aitgun Pass. On one side a steep mountain wall, on the other side 200 yards or so down. Nothing but some wooden crash barriers. Any metal would break immediately at 40 below. After that ride, a break is in order, a nice place at the river. Bones from a caribou are on the ground. There must be a bear around.

From: Wikipedia Commons

 

Cold Foot in Alaska

Our next stop would be in Cold Foot to fuel the car, have some food at the restaurant and spent the night at the camp ground. After breakfast and a shower, the journey would bring us to the Arctic Circle. We would fuel again before crossing the Yukon, just in case. The journey continues over the wooden bridge going uphill over the Yukon with the pipeline to our left seemingly attached to the bridge. Our Jeep would have a nice makeup of mud and I would kiss off the thought of using the top as a hemlock for the rest of the adventure.

Once in Fairbanks, the Jeep would go thru the car wash. The cat would try to catch the rotating fabric. How cute and amusing!

Delta Junction with sign indicating the end of the Alaska Hwy
Sign in Delta Junction marking the “End of the Alaska Highway” by jimmywayne is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

 

 

Down the Richardson Highway to the ALCAN

From Fairbanks the journey would go down the Richardson Highway to Delta Junction and then follow the Alcan (short for Alaska and Canada Highway) from mile 1442  to 0 at Dawson Creek. In Alaska, much of the drive would be along mountains to the left with the Tanana river to the right. The water reflects the light of the Sun looking like liquid silver. Pink fireweed frames the meandering river and its partly muddy, partly stony bed. A black bear and its cubs cross the street about 200 yards in front of us.

 

Yukon Territory at Mile 1182

We would pass the border to Yukon Territory at mile 1182.  Nothing but some barracks as shelter for the border patrol. Now signs would be in metric units. We would drive along a large seemingly turquoise lake which in the aftermath would look like a long detour, but is a very scenic drive. Except for some ducks and swans there is nobody on the lake. No boots, no canoes, no ships. On the steep mountains along its shore, there are some Dall sheep. The Jeep would climb up into the mountains and then descend a bit into Whitehorse.

landscape in Yukon with fireweed
“Yukon Fireweed” by jimmywayne is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

 

There we would eat a piece of salmon with a cup of milk and a big salad with a glass of wine, respectively. We would look for a nice place upstream of the Yukon dam to spend the night. Upstream, just in case the dam would break that night. We would cuddle inside the car at night.

 

Canada British Columbia towards Dawson Creek

The next day, the drive would follow the Alcan and leave the Yukon Territory at Lower Post. Then the road would wind thru the mountains of British Columbia towards Dawson Creek.  Here dry winds of the prairie land play with the fabric top making noise like being on a sailing boat. It doesn’t bother the cat who sleeps on the dashboard while the Jeep brings us to Edmonton, Alberta. Sure that I would wear a comfortable, chic sightseeing outfit to explore the town.

 

The Lower 48s

I wanted to take the route over Calgary, Alberta and Billings, Montana and then down the Interstate 25 thru Denver, Colorado to Las Cruces, New Mexico. The Interstate 10 would take us to San Antonio, Texas. I don’t recall why I favored that route back then.

 

Central America

Once crossing the Mexican border, I would regret again that I had to learn something useless like Latin instead of Spanish starting in 9th grade.  The route now goes from Nuevo Laredo to Mexico City. The Mexican Federal Highway 45 and 190 would bring us to Guatemala. There would be great opportunities for sightseeing in Guatemala City, San Salvador, Managua, San José and Panama City. The Panama Canal would be a Must-see. It had always fascinated me that a waterway was cut thru an entire country passing a mountain range and connecting the Atlantic with the Pacific.

In Costa Rica, a 10,942 feet (3335 m) pass has to be crossed with the scary name Dead Summit. The cat would push his claws in the flesh of my legs when there is a steep descend. His purring would be relaxing after a day’s drive before we would fall asleep.

 

Panama Canal - difference in water levels by az3
“Panama Canal – difference in water levels” by az3 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

 

Darién Gap – to Drive or Not to Drive

Driving farther south, I would start worrying about the Darién Gap. Would the Jeep be able to get us from Central to South America? In school, I had learned that conventional vehicles couldn’t make it. I wouldn’t want to circumnavigate this terrestrial stretch by sea. Not because of the costs, but because I am afraid of being on a ship. Moreover, I wouldn’t have packed for a dance cruise.

 

South America

The Pan-American Highway would lead us thru various climate zones of South America. We would see various landscapes and ecosystems, animals and cities, different culture. Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina are next. In Ecuador, Quito the second highest capital in the world (9350 feet, 2850 m) would be on the top of the sightseeing list.

 

Inca ruins
Inca ruins “Moray” by Nigel Burgher is licensed under CC BY 2.0

 

 

Lama, Inka Ruins, and Aliens

I wanted to see the ruins of the Incas; the places that inspired sci-fi and so-called science writers like Erich von Dänicken to claim that there had been Aliens on Earth in ancient times. The art, culture and lamas. I always wanted to see a lama in the wild ever since I saw three in the Zoo in Duisburg when I was a 4 years old. I recall that my mom said

“Stay away from the lamas. They spit.”

Nevertheless, I went close to the fence, put my hand thru it like you show your hand to a cat. They were interested what I was doing. “They are smart to spit at people who just google at them.” I replied. Guess what? They didn’t spit at me.

 

Passing the Equator

Once we would cross the Equator, I would open a bottle of champagne. It would be the first time being in the Southern Hemisphere. The longest stretch in just one country would now be Chile. More than 4000 km.  A lot of desert and coastal haze.

 

Santiago de Chile church market place and skyscraper by Pepe Church
Santiago de Chile “DSC_0799” by Pepe Church is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

 

Valparaiso to Buenos Aires

At Valparaiso, Chile Route 60 would bring us across the Andes to Argentina. We would drive Argentina National Route 7 thru the Pampas to Buenos Aires. Here, I would buy some great pairs of shoes, tickets for the cat and me to fly home and a ticket for the Jeep to return home by ship as well. You don’t leave a great companion behind.

Pan-American Highway from Prudhoe Bay to Buenos Aires. #travel #dreamtrips Click To Tweet

 

Travel Look

This outfit is nice when you have to show up in a skirt and top when on business travel. A sweater doesn’t wrinkle. And wearing oversized sweaters is a trend right now. In the evening, the sweater dress works with leggings or jeans for a walk thru town.

 

style blogger pink sweater dress, gray boots, tweed skirt, white and gray scarf

suede boots and tights

pink sweater dress over gray tweed skirt statement necklace
Outfit details: Eddie Bauer tweed skirt, Vince Camuto boots, silk scarf, DIY earrings, Rebecca Collins necklace (all own), ribbed knit dress c/o Femme Luxe and tights c/o Hipstik

 

 

Top of the World Style Linkup No. 252

Top of the World Style linkup party logo

Welcome to the 252nd Top of the World Style linkup party.

Top of the World OOTD Readers’ Fav Anna Shirley in gray denim pants, black blazer, red shoes and red animal print top
Anna Shirley of The Glam Adventure became the Top of the World OOTD Readers’ Fav. Photo from her post

 

Top of the World OOTD My Fav Linda in salmon floral summer skirt, fishnet, tall boots, cable knit sweater, black T-shirt, fedora
Linda, the lifestyle blogger at A Labour of Life became Top of the World OOTD My Fav. Photo from her post

 

Top of the World Style Winner Lizzie in floral high-low hem pink dress and pearl necklace
Lizzie of Lizzie in Lace became Top of the World Style Winner. Photo from her post

 

Congrats Ladies! Grab your award buttons.

 

Click here to get to the Top of the World Style linkup party.

 

See these awesome looks at the Top of the World Style #linkup party. #timelessstyle Click To Tweet

Photos: G. Kramm

© 2013-2021 Nicole Mölders | All rights reserved

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This Post Has 6 Comments

  1. We are currently watching a Dutch lady make that trip in reverse – Patagonia to Alaska. She is riding her Royal Enfield adventure bike (motorcycle). She goes by the moniker Itchy Boots. Her travels are available on YouTube.

    (Previous to this trip, she did India back to Holland. It took her a year.)

    Fun subject, and a lovely outfit!

    Michelle

  2. aquamarinastyle

    Nicole, that is a trip I have ALWAYS wanted to take! In an old El Camino or a convertible!! I have a great deal of interest in seeing South America–all the way to Tierra del Fuego! My son and I were headed to Machu Picchu and the Galapagos in May but it doesn’t look like that is going to happen. I love all the details you shared and I sure hope you get to take that trip!! Your pink and gray outfit is beautiful–I love that color combo!

    xx Darlene

  3. I would love something like this… but, I wonder how many days it’d take… or weeks! You’d def. see a lot!

    Carrie

  4. Oh wow sounds like a very long and interesting trip.
    A big hug from the place where the road stops and the Canal is.

  5. That would be quiet an interesting trip full of adventure but a really long trip!

  6. Nicole, this sounds like it would be an amazing retirement trip! I want to go! I am loving your pink and gray outfit, too. One of my fave color combinations. In fact, I wore it yesterday, but it was sweatpants and sneakers in gray and pink.

    Shelbee on the edge