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!!!!
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
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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