Dawson Creek to Wasilla

Her first bath in almost two weeks. She was such a trooper for the entire trip!
Pine trees covered in snow, thousands and thousands of miles of this...
Yes Mr Buffalo you are in our way.
I think there were probably 50-60 in this herd
Many miles of up and down and turns like this. So glad we didn't have much snow.

I am going to sum up the rest of the trip pretty quickly as there isn't a whole lot to say. We drove, stopped, ate slept and drove some more. We went from Lethbridge Alberta, to Dawson Creek, Ft. Nelson, to Watson Lake, to Beaver Creek, and then into Wasilla. All of the places we stayed were very tiny, some towns a population of 150. Tiny Tiny Tiny. I really didn't think that places so small existed. Places that to get to the next town it's a 6 hour drive and that's a town of 300 people. A strange existence. By the time we left Lethbridge I was so nervous that the car was going to break down again I couldn't eat, not good considering that I'm still nursing Lilly. I think I lost about 10 lbs on this trip. Mike was amazing, he drove every mile, I didn't sit in the drivers seat once, not ONCE! We had heard many horror stories about the roads and that it was going to be terrible and in places it was pretty bad but Mike says never as bad as he thought it was going to get. We got lucky and didn't have to deal with much weather. The roads were fairly clear, though slick in the early morning. We saw lots and lots of pine trees covered in snow, thousands of miles of pine trees covered in snow and I must say that I am glad the the pine trees here in Wasilla aren't covered in snow. We saw a couple moose, and several herds of buffalo/bison and a lynx (sorry no picture).

I feel like I should recount more of this story but I just don't feel like writing it all. The memories are not fond ones. I am saddened at how disappointing the trip was, though not lacking for excitement, it wasn't at all what we expected. So unfortunately our drive across the Alcan highway was more about getting to our destination than enjoying the drive.

It's never too late...

Ok so now that we have been in Alaska for a week, are settled into our house, have all of our appliances and internet. I feel I should write a little about our "adventure"

Well an adventure it was we were on the road for 8 days, 7 nights. 1 1/2 of those days were spent waiting on car repairs, 5 of those days required car repairs so only the last three days went as planned. We got lucky and had fantastic weather except for about 50 miles inside the Alaskan border. Considering all of the car problems (some major, some minor, and will be recounted for as I go) we made great time, and both swear we will NEVER do it again. We are disappointed and feel a little ripped off that we had to do it in the winter the first time. I'm positive that it would be incredible in the summer. Pictures are few as we started and stopped in the dark, most of what I do have are through the car windshield.

That said, we are thrilled to be here. We love the house, though the drive to Anchorage for Mike every day will take some getting used to. Hamilton is liking the cold and Lilly has become quite the little snow bunny. She spends a lot of time in her little snow suit and her new hat with ear flaps attached.

(I'm starting from the beginning)

The second first day of our trip went very well, we left Nellis on the 14th of January, 8 days after we had planned. Alan and Lauri followed and we made it to Idaho Falls Idaho just fine.

Mile 99 north of Vegas, we only made it to 97 the first go round !!!
Hamilton nice and cozy with Lilly

We stopped for the night, got up early the next morning and headed to Butte Montana, stopped there for breakfast, got the trailer lights fixed sent Alan and Lauri on their way and stopped to get some oil change stuff and both noticed a funny clanking sound when we parked. I had heard it a few times but I don't usually say much as I assume that he hears it all and if he's not worried why should I be. Well he's concerned and I guess hadn't noticed it before. He takes a look and notices that the nut the holds the ball for the hitch is about three threads from falliing off. Not good, disaster averted and I get a very nice lecture of "if you hear something, tell me" Point taken!

Sunrise on our way to Butte

Mike fixing the hitch
On the way to Lethbridge
The place we stopped to get the lights fixed, what a name huh?
another scenery shot (I have lots of these)

So supplies picked up, hitch fixed, gassed up on we go. Into Canada, all is well. An off the cuff remark of how glad we are that the excitement is over and all of the sudden the truck stops, no engine power, nothing happens when he pushes the pedal... (this story is recounted in a former blog post) That problem got fixed, it was major in that it cost us 2 nights in a hotel and a taxi ride and repair shop fees but the problem itself was minor. So the morning of the 17th we were on the road again. Nervous but on the road. Maybe I will write about that tomorrow.

Cold, bleak, and windy as all get it, shortly after this we broke down and life got a little more exciting and the reality of what we were doing really started to sink in.

Happier thoughts

Yesterdays post was a bit dismal I think. I am feeling better today. Mike got one leaking seal fixed yesterday and is at the shop right now getting another small leak fixed and maybe getting some new lights put on so we can extend our driving time.

I am feeling a bit less nervous today. This truly is an adventure. Yesterdays drive really was pretty and I am glad that I am taking pictures. I am sure when we are settled in Alaska I will look back and be amazed at the places we got to see. People out here are so nice and helpful. Such a change from Las Vegas. We asked a couple in Subway where they would get their car fixed and they were more than happy to offer their opinion. Mike went to an auto parts shop looking for a seal and they didn't have it. So the owner of the store call his competitor to check for it... not many people do that.

Like I said in the previous post todays drive will be the most dangerous, but also the most beautiful. I am going to try to enjoy it and maybe I'll see another moose.

Day 13...

So it has been 13 days since we moved out of our house in Vegas and started our trip. However 8 of those days were spent in temporary housing in Las Vegas. Tonight we are in Fort Nelson BC Canada, population 7,000. (I think) We only drove about 6 hours today. The drive is getting harder, we are definitely in the mountains. I think tomorrow will be the hardest of all, the maps look to show it with lots of turns and ups and downs. The blazer is leaking in a couple areas, Mike is out getting one of them fixed right now and then has an appointment for first thing tomorrow morning. So hopefully we will be on the road before noon and can make it to Watson Lake before dark.

I am nervous all the time. Not sure why exactly. Maybe it's the unknown mixed with the fear of the car breaking again. Mike tells me I shouldn't be worried. Maybe it's that nothing on this trip has gone as planned, guess that shows I shouldn't plan. I am trying to remember that God is in control and He will keep us safe. I pray a lot for safety and peace, and then I pray some more for strength for my husband, and then a little more for peace.

I had no idea that this would be so intimidating to me. It feels worse at night once the sun goes down. Like right now. I have also been sitting in a hotel room for several hours with nothing to do but think about what is going on. Maybe I should find something else to do :-)

Thanks for reading and thanks for prayers. I am only getting through this with Gods help!

Hannah

On the road again...and broke down again...

So we left Thursday the 14th from Vegas with Alan and Lauri following and made it easily to Idaho Falls Idaho. No problems except for trailer lights that didn't work, and about 2o miles in the dark in very dense falls. Lilly and Hamilton did well. Friday started out very well we left before 5 and made it to Butte Montana. We stopped and got the lights fixed and had breakfast at Starbucks with Alan and Lauri before we parted ways, us to the north into Canada and they to the North West to pick up airplane wings. We made it into Canada no problems everything was fine. And then it happened... about 30 miles south of our destination for the evening, Mike and I were talking about the "excitement" of our trip being over and now all we had to do was drive when he looked at me and I knew something was wrong, the engine had died. He had no power steering, nothing happened when he stepped on the gas. He pulled over... the truck wouldn't start we were done. Panic set in for a few moments and then, having some very recent experience with such matters, we called the insurance company got a tow truck and a taxi and then we sat, and sat and sat, fortunately the wind had died down though it was still cold. Mike jumped out and flagged a car down to make sure we had given the tow and taxi drivers a correct location. About 2 hours later the taxi showed up and then the tow truck. We got checked into a our hotel and the tow truck driver took the truck to a reliable shop and dropped off and locked up our trailer in their parking lot. The repair guy called us last night, they were still at work having a beer when the truck was dropped off, after a few minute of "what happened" talk with Mike he said he was thinking it was the fuel pump and would bump us to priority in the morning and let us know as soon as he knew what was going on.

We are safe and warm and staying here again tonight. Hopefully we can get on the road again tomorrow.

What an adventure we are having.

For those of you following our Alcan Highway Adventure on here we are on day three and are in the great state of Nevada, yes that's right folks, Nevada, Las Vegas to be exact. You are correct this is NOT where we wanted to be. According to the plan we are suppose to be across the Canadian border today heading across the Yukon soon. So what happened?

Wednesday started out great. We were ahead of schedule, got to base and got Mike "final-outed" got the truck and trailer weighed and we're on our way north with lots of happy fairwells and good riddance echoing in our car! We were so happy to be leaving, maybe too happy. About fifty miles into the trip we were going up a hill and the truck were going about 60 and it's not shifting and not shifting and then it started making a knocking noise and well we just went down hill from there. Mike pulled off the road popped the hood and gives me a look that says, "honey we aren't going anywhere" and very promptly my stomach hits the floor...this is so not good!

We called a tow truck and they could tow the blazer but the trailer was going to be 350$. Nope not going to happen. We were going to leave it and my sister in law volunteered to sit with it (she lives in Vegas) but when the tow truck got there Marc said he'd tow it for free so we didn't run the risk of losing our stuff. So about 4 hours after the initial break down we got back to base, dropped the car and trailer at the hobby shop (car shop), ordered an engine (thanks Mom and Dad), and checked into temporary housing. Also in these four hours my brother in law (David) drove up from AZ in the jeep and then Alan and Lauri drove up in another car. So we had transportation and extra hands to help, though everything was on hold until Thursday morning.

It's small but it's a kitchen.

Our 1 bedroom efficiency apt. at Nellis.

Yesterday morning Mike and David got started on pulling out all the mechanical things that need pulled out to get to the engine and got the engine pulled as well. Great progress for one day. Lauri and I did lots of running around and got parts for the guys as well as food and other things that we needed so that we could live in temporary housing for a few days.

Pulling out the radiator
Making progress, so glad that base has a shop with lifts! Makes this job so much easier!

This morning Mike is picking up the new engine and is hoping to have it installed and maybe we can be on the road by Sunday morning.

We are lucky that this happened while we were still close to town as another 300-400 miles down the road could have made it a major disaster! We are also very lucky to have family that can help us out!

And it's all gone

There were three men that showed up at 8:00 Monday morning and by 2:00 everything we owned was in boxes. I have never seen three guys work so fast. They took everything wrapped it in paper and stuffed it in boxes. Pretty cool. The showed up again today at the same time and by 12:00 they had loaded all of those boxes and other things and a motorcycle into crates on the back of a semi. Now almost all of our belongings are on there way to the west coast somewhere where the will be put on a ferry and taken to Alaska. Then it well be put on a semi and driven to our new home where three men will again show up and tear apart those crates, unpack our boxes and put all of our stuff together and put it where ever I ask them too. What a great service.

Lilly has been a doll through all of this. We have been very busy and going lots of places to say goodbye to people. She has managed to be awake and charming when we needed her to be and has been ready to sleep any chance she got.

I am going to do my best to take photos of our journey and if time allows it I will post about our trip as we go. If not I will have one very very long blog post in 7-10 days.

As a side note. I was told several weeks ago by my mother that my great grandfather Sherman Bolinger and his brother drove the Alcan Highway from Indiana to Alaska the summer it opened just to say that they did it.

Wish us luck as we begin this next great adventure