Monday, January 30, 2012
Well we have been here for 4.5 hours.....
Don't know yet how much but it won't be cheap!!! We got new bearings on all 4 and new brakes on the one that burned up - $821.89----oh well, we're off again - don't know for sure where!!!
Bulletproof Trailers............
That's the name of the place we are at this morning!!! Let's hope they can make ours BULLETPROOF!!!!!!
We didn't know how long it would take before we could have them work on it - they just said to be here this morning at 9am - Randy called about 10 places from the Super 8 last nite trying to find someone that might be able to fix the axle and lucky us.....he found one!! Again we are lucky that this happened not too far from a place where we could find help! The owner believes that the place that fixed the axles in Edmonton 2 years ago probably used cheap bearings and that they just went out - I don't know what could be done about the rest of the wheels then......the good thing is that it's only 10am and they already have the truck and trailer pulled into a huge garage to work on it!! I heard the dogs make a few mumbles but amazingly, they are quiet - probably just appreciating being inside a warm garage! Though most of them didn't mind coming out this morning.
The evening went fast again last nite- watched a little TV and put more minutes on the phone, spent some time on the computer.
This morning we are having a "heat wave".....only -25 degrees!!! You know it's funny, it really does feel alot warmer. I don't know if I told you from yesterday, but as soon as we drove 15 minutes out of town and got to a higher elevation, the sky was clear and the sun was out!! That fog just makes everything seem worse - today it's pretty clear and a little snow is falling.
I don't think I remembered to tell you about the Native that we met yesterday at breakfast...too many other "pressing issues" going on....
He is from Huslia a small village of about 300 though he says they have had a "population spurt" of 70 lately - people coming back to the village from "outside". He had been to Las Vegas to gamble and his friend had won some money so they had gone out to eat and had kobe steak - not that I have ever tasted it but he said it was delicious. == almost as good as the moose steaks he makes -he believes the moose he has is good because they eat mostly lily pads..... Huslia is also the hometown of George Attla - for those of you that don't know, he is a very famous open class dog driver, most active in the 70's and 80's - he came down to race in the lower 48 several times in his career and one time in New York state, Randy was there to race, but the weather was too warm so they asked if the drivers would put on a "race show" for the spectators - so they hooked up one dog each and had a race.....and Randy beat George Attla!!!! That's Randy's big claim to fame (other than also being known as "Ironman" here in Alaska....)
We didn't know how long it would take before we could have them work on it - they just said to be here this morning at 9am - Randy called about 10 places from the Super 8 last nite trying to find someone that might be able to fix the axle and lucky us.....he found one!! Again we are lucky that this happened not too far from a place where we could find help! The owner believes that the place that fixed the axles in Edmonton 2 years ago probably used cheap bearings and that they just went out - I don't know what could be done about the rest of the wheels then......the good thing is that it's only 10am and they already have the truck and trailer pulled into a huge garage to work on it!! I heard the dogs make a few mumbles but amazingly, they are quiet - probably just appreciating being inside a warm garage! Though most of them didn't mind coming out this morning.
The evening went fast again last nite- watched a little TV and put more minutes on the phone, spent some time on the computer.
This morning we are having a "heat wave".....only -25 degrees!!! You know it's funny, it really does feel alot warmer. I don't know if I told you from yesterday, but as soon as we drove 15 minutes out of town and got to a higher elevation, the sky was clear and the sun was out!! That fog just makes everything seem worse - today it's pretty clear and a little snow is falling.
I don't think I remembered to tell you about the Native that we met yesterday at breakfast...too many other "pressing issues" going on....
He is from Huslia a small village of about 300 though he says they have had a "population spurt" of 70 lately - people coming back to the village from "outside". He had been to Las Vegas to gamble and his friend had won some money so they had gone out to eat and had kobe steak - not that I have ever tasted it but he said it was delicious. == almost as good as the moose steaks he makes -he believes the moose he has is good because they eat mostly lily pads..... Huslia is also the hometown of George Attla - for those of you that don't know, he is a very famous open class dog driver, most active in the 70's and 80's - he came down to race in the lower 48 several times in his career and one time in New York state, Randy was there to race, but the weather was too warm so they asked if the drivers would put on a "race show" for the spectators - so they hooked up one dog each and had a race.....and Randy beat George Attla!!!! That's Randy's big claim to fame (other than also being known as "Ironman" here in Alaska....)
Sunday, January 29, 2012
I know what you are thinking.....
Sunday again: You all are probably going to think that I make this stuff up………..it’s far too unbelievable to have this much bad luck or whatever you want to call it (punishment, testing, tribulations, curse, etc., etc, etc……….) could happen to 2 relatively nice people……….
I last wrote that we were headed to Anchorage and we were, for about ½ hour and then some guys in a truck motioned us over because we had a trailer wheel on fire……..I know, I know……..not possible. Only if you are the DeKuipers………. So we stopped and sure enough, though thankfully the tire was not damaged (since we just bought it in Iron River) the wheel bearings went out and probably scored stub axle shaft (I know you know I didn’t say that myself……) Randy jacked the trailer up and removed the tire and now we are driving back to Fairbanks to the cold and fog at 10mph hoping and praying that we don’t wreck anything else. Since it’s Sunday we likely won’t find anyone that can fix it so it looks like one more nite in the Super 8 since it is still too cold to have the furnace working (too cold for the propane) in the trailer even plugged in to an outlet – 29 more miles to go so about 3 hours and we should be back where we started from……..
Before this started today we did see 2 moose and also a wolf cross the road! Always a bright spot even in the gloom!
We are back at our favorite motel in Fairbanks – the Super 8 in the room next door to last nite’s – Randy has called about 8 places and we have settled on a place to take the trailer tomorrow morning that seems to have an idea how to get us going again!
So we are good for tonite and watching the Alaska channel on TV – a treat!!! Thanks for all of you prayers!!!!
I last wrote that we were headed to Anchorage and we were, for about ½ hour and then some guys in a truck motioned us over because we had a trailer wheel on fire……..I know, I know……..not possible. Only if you are the DeKuipers………. So we stopped and sure enough, though thankfully the tire was not damaged (since we just bought it in Iron River) the wheel bearings went out and probably scored stub axle shaft (I know you know I didn’t say that myself……) Randy jacked the trailer up and removed the tire and now we are driving back to Fairbanks to the cold and fog at 10mph hoping and praying that we don’t wreck anything else. Since it’s Sunday we likely won’t find anyone that can fix it so it looks like one more nite in the Super 8 since it is still too cold to have the furnace working (too cold for the propane) in the trailer even plugged in to an outlet – 29 more miles to go so about 3 hours and we should be back where we started from……..
Before this started today we did see 2 moose and also a wolf cross the road! Always a bright spot even in the gloom!
We are back at our favorite motel in Fairbanks – the Super 8 in the room next door to last nite’s – Randy has called about 8 places and we have settled on a place to take the trailer tomorrow morning that seems to have an idea how to get us going again!
So we are good for tonite and watching the Alaska channel on TV – a treat!!! Thanks for all of you prayers!!!!
Sunday
Once we spent the $260 on a new tire and changing it we tried to plug in there to stay the nite and for some reason we couldn't get the outside plugs to work for our trailer - it was dark and very dense fog so we decided to stay in town and found a Super 8 with Dorothy - the nites sure are short once you feed and drop and eat a bite -
up this morning at 7:30 with it still pitch black at 9:30 and still dense fog - ate breakfast here and are ready to start down the road in search of warmer weather!! 0 degrees would feel balmy!!!!!
up this morning at 7:30 with it still pitch black at 9:30 and still dense fog - ate breakfast here and are ready to start down the road in search of warmer weather!! 0 degrees would feel balmy!!!!!
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Not so good adendum........
It's 4:30pm - we are not on our way anywhere.......when we went in to McD's to use the internet to look at weather forecasts, Randy noticed a flat tire on the trailer - I know, I can hear you all......not again with the tires!!!!!!!!!
So Wendy Callis (sorry if I butchered your name I didn't ask how to spell it....) came to pick up Aurora and we are waiting to have the people at Alyeska Tire look at ours and see if it can be fixed or if we need to buy yet one more tire!
We were able to find this place because a very nice heavy equipment operator mechanic at McD's called them for us and told us they were open until 5 today - so we drove over here using our ever-trusty GPS Dorothy (Randy named her that because she is like a wizard - and with the visibility today that's what we needed to be able to get here)!! what an amazing piece of equipment - I don't know how we ever got along without it! It sure beats keeping my head burrowed in the map and trying to find ways to navigate our big truck and trailer thru the city the most direct route!!!!
So as I looked at the weather for Anchorage it should be 20 to 30 degrees warmer each day for the next week - so I think that means we will be heading that way.....
as soon as I know what the deal with the tire is I will let you know!
So Wendy Callis (sorry if I butchered your name I didn't ask how to spell it....) came to pick up Aurora and we are waiting to have the people at Alyeska Tire look at ours and see if it can be fixed or if we need to buy yet one more tire!
We were able to find this place because a very nice heavy equipment operator mechanic at McD's called them for us and told us they were open until 5 today - so we drove over here using our ever-trusty GPS Dorothy (Randy named her that because she is like a wizard - and with the visibility today that's what we needed to be able to get here)!! what an amazing piece of equipment - I don't know how we ever got along without it! It sure beats keeping my head burrowed in the map and trying to find ways to navigate our big truck and trailer thru the city the most direct route!!!!
So as I looked at the weather for Anchorage it should be 20 to 30 degrees warmer each day for the next week - so I think that means we will be heading that way.....
as soon as I know what the deal with the tire is I will let you know!
wow!!
Stayed Thursday nite just outside of Haines Junction – a little cold when we got up in the morning…….several of out “little buddies” didn’t want to get out of their warm cozy boxes to have breakfast!
Passed thru Haines Junction and on our way thru the Kluane preserve – very long lake with a sunny day and beautiful mountain scenery. The roads were fair with some ice so we averaged about 40mph all day – once past Destruction Bay, the frost heaves started to become more noticeable – when you see a pink flag on the side of the road we slowed down to about 10mph – last year we missed seeing one and went over it too fast and that’s when I looked in the trailer and it looked like the Goodwill blew up (a favorite saying of Randy’s) – this year he put bungee cords on the shelves so most everything stayed in place except for a mug I had silverware stored it – I still haven’t found it!
We passed thru the border without problems and got into Tok about 5p and it was already getting dark out – we treated ourselves to a room and dinner out – I had the halibut (our favorite Alaska meal) here last year and could hardly taste the fish for all the breading so I asked them to just boil the fish and serve it with melted butter – delicious!!!! Better than lobster!!!
The hot shower felt very good and even got to watch some TV!
Up this morning at 8am and still very dark – fed the dogs and they realllllllllly didn’t want to come out to play! We found out that it got down to -40 degrees F!!!!! so no wonder!! Stopped at the gas station and got coffee and breakfast sandwiches and now are 1/2 way to Fairbanks to drop off the last dog – if it is too cold to train here we may head for Anchorage. We will be stopping in Delta Junction to drop the dogs to pee – hope it’s a little warmer!!!
Oh I forgot to mention – severaly years we have gone the whole trip seeing rare glimpses of wildlife………yesterday 9 caribou and 4 moose and today already 4 moose!!!!!
Made it to Fairbanks – strangest phenomena……..it’s so cold that all the fumes are making a smog over the city and you can’t see 15 feet in front of you – terrible driving!!! Don’t know what we will do next – stay or go to Anchorage where it is warmer!!
Passed thru Haines Junction and on our way thru the Kluane preserve – very long lake with a sunny day and beautiful mountain scenery. The roads were fair with some ice so we averaged about 40mph all day – once past Destruction Bay, the frost heaves started to become more noticeable – when you see a pink flag on the side of the road we slowed down to about 10mph – last year we missed seeing one and went over it too fast and that’s when I looked in the trailer and it looked like the Goodwill blew up (a favorite saying of Randy’s) – this year he put bungee cords on the shelves so most everything stayed in place except for a mug I had silverware stored it – I still haven’t found it!
We passed thru the border without problems and got into Tok about 5p and it was already getting dark out – we treated ourselves to a room and dinner out – I had the halibut (our favorite Alaska meal) here last year and could hardly taste the fish for all the breading so I asked them to just boil the fish and serve it with melted butter – delicious!!!! Better than lobster!!!
The hot shower felt very good and even got to watch some TV!
Up this morning at 8am and still very dark – fed the dogs and they realllllllllly didn’t want to come out to play! We found out that it got down to -40 degrees F!!!!! so no wonder!! Stopped at the gas station and got coffee and breakfast sandwiches and now are 1/2 way to Fairbanks to drop off the last dog – if it is too cold to train here we may head for Anchorage. We will be stopping in Delta Junction to drop the dogs to pee – hope it’s a little warmer!!!
Oh I forgot to mention – severaly years we have gone the whole trip seeing rare glimpses of wildlife………yesterday 9 caribou and 4 moose and today already 4 moose!!!!!
Made it to Fairbanks – strangest phenomena……..it’s so cold that all the fumes are making a smog over the city and you can’t see 15 feet in front of you – terrible driving!!! Don’t know what we will do next – stay or go to Anchorage where it is warmer!!
Friday, January 27, 2012
yeaaaaah
Thursday: Just for clarification’s sake, when I wrote about going off the road into a snow bank, that was LAST Year!!
We are in Alaska and will call you!! We love you!!
We are in Alaska and will call you!! We love you!!
Thursday, January 26, 2012
I thought it could not get worse,.........we are being tested!!
Wed: If I rate today on the “Fear Factor Scale” I give it a 9 out of 10- think if you were traveling down a hill with a 9% grade with snow cover on the road and you were facing a gorge without any guard rails – I would have take a picture but I was too “intense” =if I rate the last 2 days on a “Frustration Factor Scale” I give it a 12 out of 10!!!!! Yesterday I posted at a hotel in Ft. Nelson – we had a snack with Debbie Streeper and then set out for the Canadian Rocky Mountains…….had good roads with sand on them and got to the Summit to stay over nite – left and then had a “mini blizzard” and stopped to put chains on cause we were still in “the mountains” – got over the 9% grade and down to Muncho Lake ( where we went off the road avoiding a semi and went into the ditch and needed to be pulled out by the snow plow truck) and found to our dismay, that there had been a snowstorm either this morning or lasts nite and all the roads were either snow covered or icy! We are 15 miles from Watson Lake but it has taken us all day to get here with an average MPH of about 30 –
The most frustrating was yesterday at the Ft. Nelson scale where we pulled in and they “in their most infinite wisdom” decided that we were a commercial truck and needed to pay them $200 to go through British Columbia which we paid and was only for one way through BC– we disagree and are very angry and plan to protest…………….They/she (who was disagreeable/patronizing and the perfect prototype of the elementary teacher you most disliked) said that if you were driving a truck that potentially could make money/or prize money that you had to get the non-resident license – We went thru this last year in Ft. St. Johns and were told we were only a “recreational vehicle”- we were told that the same thing should happen in every province of Canada therefore we could pay $400 each way for 5 provinces!! More to come on this once I settle down!!
Finally to Watson’s Lake!!!! Shouldn’t be any more mountains till Alaska! Averaged about 30 mph for 300 miles!!! We did get called it to show papers at the scales here but she only needed to see our proof of insurance (which we had failed to replace from last year ) so spent ½ hour on the phone with AAA having them fax a proof to the scales office = man oh man, what a pain it is to look like a semi but not be one!!!!!~ the roads are supposed to be snow covered all the way to Whitehorse - don’t know if we will stop for the nite here or not - heavens knows I am readddddddy!!!!
We just fed dogs and are going to pack it in for the nite!!!
Next morning: the computer crashed while I was trying to post last nite so here I am again in the hotel trying to communicate with you - getting a 9am start here and the roads are all covered with slick snow - so we will see how far we get today - at least it will be flat!!!!!!!
Hello all you grandkids!!!! Caitlin, Aeja, Ocean, Oak, Aurea, Zoey, Vivian and "Steve" - we love you and miss you
The most frustrating was yesterday at the Ft. Nelson scale where we pulled in and they “in their most infinite wisdom” decided that we were a commercial truck and needed to pay them $200 to go through British Columbia which we paid and was only for one way through BC– we disagree and are very angry and plan to protest…………….They/she (who was disagreeable/patronizing and the perfect prototype of the elementary teacher you most disliked) said that if you were driving a truck that potentially could make money/or prize money that you had to get the non-resident license – We went thru this last year in Ft. St. Johns and were told we were only a “recreational vehicle”- we were told that the same thing should happen in every province of Canada therefore we could pay $400 each way for 5 provinces!! More to come on this once I settle down!!
Finally to Watson’s Lake!!!! Shouldn’t be any more mountains till Alaska! Averaged about 30 mph for 300 miles!!! We did get called it to show papers at the scales here but she only needed to see our proof of insurance (which we had failed to replace from last year ) so spent ½ hour on the phone with AAA having them fax a proof to the scales office = man oh man, what a pain it is to look like a semi but not be one!!!!!~ the roads are supposed to be snow covered all the way to Whitehorse - don’t know if we will stop for the nite here or not - heavens knows I am readddddddy!!!!
We just fed dogs and are going to pack it in for the nite!!!
Next morning: the computer crashed while I was trying to post last nite so here I am again in the hotel trying to communicate with you - getting a 9am start here and the roads are all covered with slick snow - so we will see how far we get today - at least it will be flat!!!!!!!
Hello all you grandkids!!!! Caitlin, Aeja, Ocean, Oak, Aurea, Zoey, Vivian and "Steve" - we love you and miss you
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
OH my dear...........
Tues: As I write this we are 44 miles from Ft. Nelson – last nite we pulled off the side of the road to sleep and it was a bit more of a downgrade and snowier (about 5 inches) than what Randy thought when he pulled in in the dark……….he said this morning he spent half the nite thinking about how he was going to get us out of there!
Well it’s “white knuckle time” again – last nite while it was still light out we went thru Taylor which is a small town at the bottom of a river gorge at the end of a very very steep hill (9%) with a lot of curves in it! Today we started out with icy roads and going down from Pink Mountain – we finally felt comfortable when we were only going 12 mph!! and that’s both up and down!
As soon as we get to Ft. Nelson I will try to find a hotel with wifi and post this – after that we will go to Streepers, drop off the dog and buy a couple of bales of hay to “plump-up” the dog boxes. We plan start off for the scariest part of the whole trip (from Ft. Nelson to Watson Lake through the Canadian Rockies) at whatever time we can leave and only drive till dark – then stop for the nite – it’s nervy enough in the daylight as it is………..of course maybe I would be less anxious if I couldn’t see!!!! There won’t be any more posts until Watson Lake – no towns to speak of – coming home last year it took us 9 hours – but that was with dry roads in April! Wish us luck!!!!
Well it’s “white knuckle time” again – last nite while it was still light out we went thru Taylor which is a small town at the bottom of a river gorge at the end of a very very steep hill (9%) with a lot of curves in it! Today we started out with icy roads and going down from Pink Mountain – we finally felt comfortable when we were only going 12 mph!! and that’s both up and down!
As soon as we get to Ft. Nelson I will try to find a hotel with wifi and post this – after that we will go to Streepers, drop off the dog and buy a couple of bales of hay to “plump-up” the dog boxes. We plan start off for the scariest part of the whole trip (from Ft. Nelson to Watson Lake through the Canadian Rockies) at whatever time we can leave and only drive till dark – then stop for the nite – it’s nervy enough in the daylight as it is………..of course maybe I would be less anxious if I couldn’t see!!!! There won’t be any more posts until Watson Lake – no towns to speak of – coming home last year it took us 9 hours – but that was with dry roads in April! Wish us luck!!!!
Monday, January 23, 2012
Make it stoppppppppppppp!!!!
Today is Sunday – one week on the road and we are only to Whitecourt in British Columbia – yes…….the unbelievable happened………….again.
We got over the border with no problem on Friday nite and stopped at a little town named Milestone for the nite. When we woke up in the morning we were shocked to see how many cars had filled the empty parking lot…….it was the ice arena and they were having Saturday hockey tournaments and women’s curling!! We got off to a good start and made it all the way to Mark Hartum’s house in the evening (about an hour east of Edmonton, AB). We presumed that they would not be there because they had invited us to a race at Elkford, BC for this weekend and we figured we couldn’t make it and kept heading north. We stayed at a park near his house for the nite. In the morning we unloaded 2 dogs he wanted, 4 50# boxes of dehydrated eggs and some harnesses and collars from Windago. Left there about 11am and had stopped to drop dogs and everything seemed to be going fine thinking we would make it past Grand Prairie yet today and BAM!!!! Loud noise like a small explosion! Randy got out and looked and looked trying to find out what had made the noise – was it tires again………….it was the air intake hose in the engine that had blown off. So Randy replaced it in it position and we took off again – only to find out that we had no turbo power…………..essentially lamed the truck. So we limped in 11 miles to the next town, that thankfully I saw a sign that said there was a heavy truck repair shop in, and we found it amazingly and called their 24 hour number and they said they can look at it tomorrow morning and if they have parts, we could be back on the road tomorrow nite!!! Already fed dogs and Grandpa and I are settled in for a long winter’s nite……….not too cold right below freezing for temperature so we are warm and comfortable and full from a microwaved soup dinner!
Monday morning up at 7am (or so I thought when I set the alarm – we were really one hour earlier so we had a little extra time before the shop opened at 8 am!!) They had us pull the whole shebang – truck and the trailer – into a bay – took about a ½ hour looking things over and found that most likely the hose clamp that blew off yesterday from the turbo air flow hose caused it to de-pressurize (how do you like that for “pretend technical”?) so we lost the turbo power – the mechanic did take the turbo off to make sure it was intact and it was……..so for the mere price of $144 we are back on the road again!!! 500 miles to Ft. Nelson where we can drop off one more “passenger” at Streepers!
Side notes: I don’t think I have already mentioned the wildlife sitings for this year- snowy owl (Randy first thought it was a seagull and thought it funny that it was so far away from any water – it was so close and beautiful), moose, coyote, eagle, and of course (thanks to Beth identifying it last year) magpies!
Our new toy – the Garmin Nuvi GPS – is turning out to be very helpful – Randy mentioned last year he wondered how it would work on our trips so I bought him one for Christmas and we are finding it’s great to know how far you are from towns and we have even used it to find a Walmart and the auto fix-it place!! The only problem I am having now is that until yesterday it was not only showing the speed we are going (which is great because the speedometer doesn’t work) but it showed what the current speed limit was – I have tried looking in “help” and everything else I can think of to no avail – so if someone out there knows, let me know!
Wonder of wonders……..we are to Dawson Creek and the real beginning of the ALCAN highway – we are stopped to fill up with diesel before things get really expensive farther north at Fort St. Johns and Fort Nelson – for sure we should be able to make it to Fort St. John tonite and maybe even half way to Fort Nelson.
We just stopped an hour ago to clean the windows – the roads are wet and every time someone passes us it totally blocks vision out the windows – when we were stopped I went in and got milk, eggs, bread, 12 pack of Coke and 2 rolls and it was $24!! The milk was $5!!!
We got over the border with no problem on Friday nite and stopped at a little town named Milestone for the nite. When we woke up in the morning we were shocked to see how many cars had filled the empty parking lot…….it was the ice arena and they were having Saturday hockey tournaments and women’s curling!! We got off to a good start and made it all the way to Mark Hartum’s house in the evening (about an hour east of Edmonton, AB). We presumed that they would not be there because they had invited us to a race at Elkford, BC for this weekend and we figured we couldn’t make it and kept heading north. We stayed at a park near his house for the nite. In the morning we unloaded 2 dogs he wanted, 4 50# boxes of dehydrated eggs and some harnesses and collars from Windago. Left there about 11am and had stopped to drop dogs and everything seemed to be going fine thinking we would make it past Grand Prairie yet today and BAM!!!! Loud noise like a small explosion! Randy got out and looked and looked trying to find out what had made the noise – was it tires again………….it was the air intake hose in the engine that had blown off. So Randy replaced it in it position and we took off again – only to find out that we had no turbo power…………..essentially lamed the truck. So we limped in 11 miles to the next town, that thankfully I saw a sign that said there was a heavy truck repair shop in, and we found it amazingly and called their 24 hour number and they said they can look at it tomorrow morning and if they have parts, we could be back on the road tomorrow nite!!! Already fed dogs and Grandpa and I are settled in for a long winter’s nite……….not too cold right below freezing for temperature so we are warm and comfortable and full from a microwaved soup dinner!
Monday morning up at 7am (or so I thought when I set the alarm – we were really one hour earlier so we had a little extra time before the shop opened at 8 am!!) They had us pull the whole shebang – truck and the trailer – into a bay – took about a ½ hour looking things over and found that most likely the hose clamp that blew off yesterday from the turbo air flow hose caused it to de-pressurize (how do you like that for “pretend technical”?) so we lost the turbo power – the mechanic did take the turbo off to make sure it was intact and it was……..so for the mere price of $144 we are back on the road again!!! 500 miles to Ft. Nelson where we can drop off one more “passenger” at Streepers!
Side notes: I don’t think I have already mentioned the wildlife sitings for this year- snowy owl (Randy first thought it was a seagull and thought it funny that it was so far away from any water – it was so close and beautiful), moose, coyote, eagle, and of course (thanks to Beth identifying it last year) magpies!
Our new toy – the Garmin Nuvi GPS – is turning out to be very helpful – Randy mentioned last year he wondered how it would work on our trips so I bought him one for Christmas and we are finding it’s great to know how far you are from towns and we have even used it to find a Walmart and the auto fix-it place!! The only problem I am having now is that until yesterday it was not only showing the speed we are going (which is great because the speedometer doesn’t work) but it showed what the current speed limit was – I have tried looking in “help” and everything else I can think of to no avail – so if someone out there knows, let me know!
Wonder of wonders……..we are to Dawson Creek and the real beginning of the ALCAN highway – we are stopped to fill up with diesel before things get really expensive farther north at Fort St. Johns and Fort Nelson – for sure we should be able to make it to Fort St. John tonite and maybe even half way to Fort Nelson.
We just stopped an hour ago to clean the windows – the roads are wet and every time someone passes us it totally blocks vision out the windows – when we were stopped I went in and got milk, eggs, bread, 12 pack of Coke and 2 rolls and it was $24!! The milk was $5!!!
Friday, January 20, 2012
and even rougher seas ahead.......
As you can tell by the posting date it is now Friday and we have just made it to Minot, ND - we left Wisconsin with 4 brand new tires and rims and a lighter wallet!!!
travel has been good but cold.......and then the generator decided not to start, and then the truck block heater decided not to work. so we spent quite a bit of time driving around Duluth looking for a Honda generator (which Randy had been wanting anyway because they are quieter (I would have to agree having not been able to hardly hear it last nite...) and he wanted it for the kettle korn trailer. Then we started looking for the right size heater to put on the oil pan cause it's been so cold Randy was afraid to not have the truck run all nite long! - finally found one large enough and it had to be stuck on - so we drive a while and stop in Grand Rapids MN at a Walmart (so I could try to find a power cord for my Mac computer and because the charger for the lighter in the truck for the GPS was not working and it died on us.... While I was in Walmart Randy had to pull the truck up on some boards to be able to get under the truck to reach the oil pan and had to glue this heater on and then apply silicone around it to seal it - of course it was slightly too big which made it all the harder to do (we checked and it's still stuck on there!) I was not too successful in Walmart - no power cord, and couldn't check to see if my Garmin GPS cord was faulty - and neither could Target and neither could the other 2 computer places in town I called!!! So off we went and got to Grand Forks ND where we stopped at the Cabela's store for the nite - the store was closed but we did go to an "upscale" very expensive bar/grille across the street where Randy's burger was $10 and my wine was $7.50!!! Had a good nite found out from Cindy on the phone this morning that Best Buy in Grand Forks had cords - went there (without having the GPS to use.....) and Yup, they had the Mac cord for only $80 - and sure enough the GPS cord was faulty so bought one of those for $30!!! NO other problems today and perhaps we will get to the border yet tonite! Saw an eagle on the side of the road eating a deer and a pheasant flew across the front of the truck - but that's the fun kind of exciting!!! As of border crossing won't have any phone use until we get into Alaska - which we hope to be by Thursday if all goes better than it has!!! So I will keep in touch whenever I have wifi to use (right now we are at McDonalds but for some reason the Canadian Micky D's don't usually have wifi - please keep us in your prayers!!!! We love you all!
travel has been good but cold.......and then the generator decided not to start, and then the truck block heater decided not to work. so we spent quite a bit of time driving around Duluth looking for a Honda generator (which Randy had been wanting anyway because they are quieter (I would have to agree having not been able to hardly hear it last nite...) and he wanted it for the kettle korn trailer. Then we started looking for the right size heater to put on the oil pan cause it's been so cold Randy was afraid to not have the truck run all nite long! - finally found one large enough and it had to be stuck on - so we drive a while and stop in Grand Rapids MN at a Walmart (so I could try to find a power cord for my Mac computer and because the charger for the lighter in the truck for the GPS was not working and it died on us.... While I was in Walmart Randy had to pull the truck up on some boards to be able to get under the truck to reach the oil pan and had to glue this heater on and then apply silicone around it to seal it - of course it was slightly too big which made it all the harder to do (we checked and it's still stuck on there!) I was not too successful in Walmart - no power cord, and couldn't check to see if my Garmin GPS cord was faulty - and neither could Target and neither could the other 2 computer places in town I called!!! So off we went and got to Grand Forks ND where we stopped at the Cabela's store for the nite - the store was closed but we did go to an "upscale" very expensive bar/grille across the street where Randy's burger was $10 and my wine was $7.50!!! Had a good nite found out from Cindy on the phone this morning that Best Buy in Grand Forks had cords - went there (without having the GPS to use.....) and Yup, they had the Mac cord for only $80 - and sure enough the GPS cord was faulty so bought one of those for $30!!! NO other problems today and perhaps we will get to the border yet tonite! Saw an eagle on the side of the road eating a deer and a pheasant flew across the front of the truck - but that's the fun kind of exciting!!! As of border crossing won't have any phone use until we get into Alaska - which we hope to be by Thursday if all goes better than it has!!! So I will keep in touch whenever I have wifi to use (right now we are at McDonalds but for some reason the Canadian Micky D's don't usually have wifi - please keep us in your prayers!!!! We love you all!
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Well so much for smooth sailing.........
Unbelievably (except for those of you that are accustomed to hearing of tails of woe) we had a vehicle problem before we even left the yard!! Somehow in backing up to pack the dogs in, the fuel line under the truck got torn off - so Randy made a call to Penlands for "an emergency appointment" - thankfully they happened to already be in the shop and they fixed it as soon as we got there!! Thank you Mike, Sue and Mikey!!
Got over the bridge and were on our way to Seney to a roadside park we like to stay at and the headlights started going off and on, off and on....... Randy thinks he got it figured out but it made for a slightly anxious trip for a few hours.....
Left Seney in the morning and were doing well making it to our appointment for rabies shots at Tim Hunt's vet office - got them done and off again thinking we would make it to Iron River to pick some harnesses for our friend Mark Hartum before night-time and POP!! - sure enough a flat tire on the trailer - so we call Debbie (the gal that makes the harnesses) and she suggests a fix-it shop to call - they arrive on the scene and (in the dark on the side of the highway) he changes the tire to the spare and Randy notices that the inner side of the tire looks like it has been ground off and then ripped!!!! so we start again for Debbie's (she actually came to lead us back into Iron River, WI where she lives) and we start smelling burning rubber and know that something "not good" is happening - by the time we go the 10 miles to Iron River we pull into a construction business parking lot and look at the wheels and the tires had come off completely and we were driving on bent rims!!!!!! What Randy says is that the sidewalls of the 3 tires were rubbing on the fender wells and that's what caused the problem - but we don't know why......so we are buying 4 more tires and 5 offset rims to give us more clearance.....just when you thought you had used up your "problem allotment"!!
So today we are sitting in downtown Iron River next to a hardware store, which is a perfect spot for Randy to get all that he needs to finish those little "projects" he didn't get done before we left. Tonite we are invited to Debbie and Steve's (I would try to spell their name but know I would butcher it - they run the Windago harness company) and I will have more updates tomorrow - I know I will still be here because the new tires and rims won't be here until tomorrow!!!!
Got over the bridge and were on our way to Seney to a roadside park we like to stay at and the headlights started going off and on, off and on....... Randy thinks he got it figured out but it made for a slightly anxious trip for a few hours.....
Left Seney in the morning and were doing well making it to our appointment for rabies shots at Tim Hunt's vet office - got them done and off again thinking we would make it to Iron River to pick some harnesses for our friend Mark Hartum before night-time and POP!! - sure enough a flat tire on the trailer - so we call Debbie (the gal that makes the harnesses) and she suggests a fix-it shop to call - they arrive on the scene and (in the dark on the side of the highway) he changes the tire to the spare and Randy notices that the inner side of the tire looks like it has been ground off and then ripped!!!! so we start again for Debbie's (she actually came to lead us back into Iron River, WI where she lives) and we start smelling burning rubber and know that something "not good" is happening - by the time we go the 10 miles to Iron River we pull into a construction business parking lot and look at the wheels and the tires had come off completely and we were driving on bent rims!!!!!! What Randy says is that the sidewalls of the 3 tires were rubbing on the fender wells and that's what caused the problem - but we don't know why......so we are buying 4 more tires and 5 offset rims to give us more clearance.....just when you thought you had used up your "problem allotment"!!
So today we are sitting in downtown Iron River next to a hardware store, which is a perfect spot for Randy to get all that he needs to finish those little "projects" he didn't get done before we left. Tonite we are invited to Debbie and Steve's (I would try to spell their name but know I would butcher it - they run the Windago harness company) and I will have more updates tomorrow - I know I will still be here because the new tires and rims won't be here until tomorrow!!!!
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Off for 2012!!!
As you probably all know the snow and weather conditions have not been conducive to sled dog training this year!! We had some snow a few weeks ago that made it easier to train than on the frozen sand but not enough to get in the training miles we wanted to have before leaving for Alaska - we did have 8 inches of snow the last 2 days and trained 2 teams of 14 for 13.5 miles with Randy packing the trail (at great expense to his face with all the heavy snow-laden branches hitting in the face as he packed it)- we plan to leave tomorrow just after noon if all is packed in the trailer!! Will post as often as I find wifi and all of you keep us in your prayers for no mishaps!! Happy New Year and talk to you soon!!
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