Thursday, June 6, 2013
hitchhikers
Finally some pictures...
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Finally in AK!
We figure we've been in the truck something over 70 hours, and had about 12 hours total where we shut it down, popped the lid on my camper, and got prone. But it feels good to finally be back in the states! Gas is half the price, but still 4.59. Food is better. Service is better. Honest to God, last night that steak we had was about the worst I have ever had. Wrong cut. Tough as nails. Well done. Yuck. The waiter never did a thing but bring us a plate and a drink and a bill. And I aggravated my right lower jaw and regretted it ever since. In some ways, Canada is still in the dark ages (I have always maintained).
Mr. PJ says his highlight so far has been the numerous bears, and I agree. It's a really late spring here, and the bears are devouring the first green grass that shows up in the road ditch. They're still kind of sleepy, and so am I - so when we spot a bear, I sort of wander over there and try to get up close and personal. Probably not too smart, but I must to what I must do. PJ waits patiently in the car, and something tells me that I would mostly be on my own if trouble occurred. Scenery is second, and of course, he says my fabulous company is right up there too.
The road from Whitehorse to Tok was pretty crappy. Nothing but a hump of dirt built up in the middle of a bog that sits between mountain ranges. Broken patches of dirt, gravel, rock, and tar. Ice heaves everywhere. We did some nose dives and bottomed out more than once. I blame PJ cuz his foot is usually in the carbuerator. Gas mileage is horrible when he drives. RPM's are usually at 3-4,000 plus. It takes him an hour or two to burn through a hundred bucks of gas, seriously. But I'm still grateful to have him along so far. I just LOVE giving him crap :-)
Believe it or not, we have come this entire distance, and only stopped at the DQ once - way back in Montana - and that was not even my idea!
As I write this, we are eating breakfast at Fast Eddy's in Tok. Waitresses are cute and friendly. They give you what you ask for. The food was just made in the past five or ten minutes, and the pancakes are as big as you plate. PJ is devouring his breakfast, and as I look over his shoulder, there are snow capped peaks in the distance.
Last night we camped at a huge lake way up in the mountains. Noone around. The lake was ice-covered still, but it was breaking up. So we went to sleep with the sound of wind, tinkling ice, and running water. It was better than the place we stopped the night before, which had mosquitos built like hummingbirds, and a dude that kept hollering in the night. He either had an unruly dog, nightmares, or bear trouble.
The truck has performed flawlessly, but it and the boat are caked with a layer of mud that is baked on by now, and will take some major work to bring it back to life. If I can get a good price for it, I'm seriously thinking about selling it instead of dragging it all the way back. We will see...
I've also spent 7-800 on gas just getting across the northern rockies, and we're not done yet! We've got anchorage in our sights, and homer is 3-4 hours beyond that. My thinking is to sell the boat, sell the camper, take the ferry down to prince rupert, and then head home from there. If it's cheaper than gas, I'll do that, and visit my brother and his family in Fraser Lake, BC on the way home. Then will return via Prince George, Jasper, Banff, and Calgary.
Doggone but I forgot my camera again. I keep getting little chances to post while we stop and eat. But I promise to try to be more creative in my writing, and post some pictures too, so that you can enjoy some of what we are experiencing here.
I did forget to tell you the story about the caramel roll. This was way back in BC, where the gas was ten bucks a gallon. The lady was selling fresh baked caramel rolls for five bucks apiece, and we figured, what the heck? We're already getting raped on the gas, might as well splurge and eat something good. Well, unbeknownst to me, mine dripped all over my chair, and I proceeded to sit in it and grease my ass up good. I posted a message, and then passed my comp over to PJ, so that he could communicate with his wife. I was nosing around this gift shop, and ever time I turned around this cute young lady was checking me out and smiling at me. It happened several times, and I was starting to feel flattered, like, this chick really digs me. We exchanged meaningful glances, and I was enjoying this. It saddened me to leave, and in my mind, I was entertaining thoughts of what might have been. Then PJ asks me if I had pooped my pants. Yep, there's caramel all over my backside, and suddenly, it all makes sense...
Gotta go!
Mr. PJ says his highlight so far has been the numerous bears, and I agree. It's a really late spring here, and the bears are devouring the first green grass that shows up in the road ditch. They're still kind of sleepy, and so am I - so when we spot a bear, I sort of wander over there and try to get up close and personal. Probably not too smart, but I must to what I must do. PJ waits patiently in the car, and something tells me that I would mostly be on my own if trouble occurred. Scenery is second, and of course, he says my fabulous company is right up there too.
The road from Whitehorse to Tok was pretty crappy. Nothing but a hump of dirt built up in the middle of a bog that sits between mountain ranges. Broken patches of dirt, gravel, rock, and tar. Ice heaves everywhere. We did some nose dives and bottomed out more than once. I blame PJ cuz his foot is usually in the carbuerator. Gas mileage is horrible when he drives. RPM's are usually at 3-4,000 plus. It takes him an hour or two to burn through a hundred bucks of gas, seriously. But I'm still grateful to have him along so far. I just LOVE giving him crap :-)
Believe it or not, we have come this entire distance, and only stopped at the DQ once - way back in Montana - and that was not even my idea!
As I write this, we are eating breakfast at Fast Eddy's in Tok. Waitresses are cute and friendly. They give you what you ask for. The food was just made in the past five or ten minutes, and the pancakes are as big as you plate. PJ is devouring his breakfast, and as I look over his shoulder, there are snow capped peaks in the distance.
Last night we camped at a huge lake way up in the mountains. Noone around. The lake was ice-covered still, but it was breaking up. So we went to sleep with the sound of wind, tinkling ice, and running water. It was better than the place we stopped the night before, which had mosquitos built like hummingbirds, and a dude that kept hollering in the night. He either had an unruly dog, nightmares, or bear trouble.
The truck has performed flawlessly, but it and the boat are caked with a layer of mud that is baked on by now, and will take some major work to bring it back to life. If I can get a good price for it, I'm seriously thinking about selling it instead of dragging it all the way back. We will see...
I've also spent 7-800 on gas just getting across the northern rockies, and we're not done yet! We've got anchorage in our sights, and homer is 3-4 hours beyond that. My thinking is to sell the boat, sell the camper, take the ferry down to prince rupert, and then head home from there. If it's cheaper than gas, I'll do that, and visit my brother and his family in Fraser Lake, BC on the way home. Then will return via Prince George, Jasper, Banff, and Calgary.
Doggone but I forgot my camera again. I keep getting little chances to post while we stop and eat. But I promise to try to be more creative in my writing, and post some pictures too, so that you can enjoy some of what we are experiencing here.
I did forget to tell you the story about the caramel roll. This was way back in BC, where the gas was ten bucks a gallon. The lady was selling fresh baked caramel rolls for five bucks apiece, and we figured, what the heck? We're already getting raped on the gas, might as well splurge and eat something good. Well, unbeknownst to me, mine dripped all over my chair, and I proceeded to sit in it and grease my ass up good. I posted a message, and then passed my comp over to PJ, so that he could communicate with his wife. I was nosing around this gift shop, and ever time I turned around this cute young lady was checking me out and smiling at me. It happened several times, and I was starting to feel flattered, like, this chick really digs me. We exchanged meaningful glances, and I was enjoying this. It saddened me to leave, and in my mind, I was entertaining thoughts of what might have been. Then PJ asks me if I had pooped my pants. Yep, there's caramel all over my backside, and suddenly, it all makes sense...
Gotta go!
Monday, June 3, 2013
eating a ribeye!
The elder of the woods (PJ) says it's time for a good meal, so we have swung in to a restaurant in Whitehorse - Yukon Territories. It's 7:30 pm, and we have been driving since 6 am. It took us that long to get across the northern rockies/ british columbia. The farther we go, the more we realize that this is a crazy long way! I've dumped 600 bucks into the gas tank since this time yesterday. OUCH. We are going to keep heading toward Anchorage until dark, which will be around midnight. Thankfully, gas is coming back down. It's only about 7-8 bucks a gallon now. Be thankful for what we have in the states! Not too much for news today since my last post. Saw lots of bears, moose, caribou, buffalo, etc. this am before the sun got up high, but wildlife sightings dropped way off once it got up into the 60's. We expect things to get better later this evening though. Starting to see more lakes and rivers (not too much in northern BC). I did spot my first ever silver fox, which was in the ditch eating road kill :-) Neat looking critter that I would like to trap. Ok - food is here so I must go. I forgot my camera in the truck again, but I will post some pictures soon.
Where I post from...
The gas is ten dollars a gallon. And there is a sign above the cashier counter that says "we don't dial 911". Below that is a picture of a gun in a fist. But the people are friendly and fun. This lady has homemade "bumblebee pie" made from every kind of berry you can imagine. You get a slice and a cup of coffee for six bucks. I must have picked up a deer tick chasing bears last night, and she told me to "take that outside now". When I came back in, she had seen that I was carrying my computer - so she was waiting with the wifi password and some hydrogen peroxide for the tick bite.
Going backwards a couple of days - things came together nicely before we left. I knew I wasn't going to make it, so I swallowed my pride and asked the folks for some help. Mom and dad helped with cleaning my camper, doing laundry, and dishes - while I shopped, ran errands, packed, and had a tooth pulled. I must have been completely exhausted because the morning I left, Dad had to shake and shake on me to bring me back to life. I was late getting to PJ's house (which is really rare for me) and I still haven't heard the end of it! But, PJ left the lights on and killed my battery, so we are even I guess.
North Dakota was a bugger. We had 30 MPH north winds and my truck was guzzling gas. But it is what it is, so we enjoyed watching waterfowl. The ditches and fields were flooded and running with water. Then hens were nesting, and the drakes were trading back and forth across the highway looking for whatever action remains to be had. We saw Pintails, Shovelers, Redheads - lotsa species we don't see much in MN, and the regulars too (Mallards, Teal, Woodies, etc.)
Montana was almost completely eventless. We decided to stay in the US as long as possible to save on gas - short of crossing the rockies. We crossed the border south of Calgary - about 2 am, and it was not manned to well. It took 90 minutes to have our vehicle inspected, and the guns I brought along didn't help. Alberta was eventless too. Got rid of the wind, but endured lots and lots of rain. We finally shut it down last night at about 11pm. We had been driving for 41 hours, and both of us needed some rest.
Getting gas last night the last time was funny. We were in the middle of nowhere and had no idea where our next gas stop would be. Gas has been continually climbing - from 3.59 a gallon in Montanny, to ten bucks a gallon where we are now. The last thing we want to do is run out at night in this remote country. So anyway, we stop at the ho-dunk dive bar/cafe that has a gas pump straight from the 1950's. The lady comes out and unlocks it and we started disputing the usefulness of the metric system. I told her the US was interested in it until I was in 5th grade, and then we abandoned it, and they should do the same. Then she started asking about how we would buy and sell pot? Not too much later, she looked at me funny and said something about being a cannibal, and that we should watch out tonight. We left.
After a good night sleep, we got back on the trail to a beautiful sunshiny day. This am, we have seen a half dozen moose and at least ten bears. One sow had three cubs, and when I got too close, she charged - but she was bluffing. I got some fun pictures. The bears are pretty intensely eating grass in the ditches, which is good for me. We also saw a big cow moose with a newborn calf. Lots of buffalo too. Even a few mountain caribou, and two bighorn sheep. I tried to slap a buffalo in the hinder as we passed, but he was just a little too fast for me.
Well, I must go. PJ is tired of waiting for me. First he says his butt is sore from sitting, and he just can't stand it anymore. Then he's anxious to get going - it's a long ways. So it's a handfull keeping this guy happy, but so far I'm still grateful to have him along. He bought me a new battery for my truck (nice birthday present), and a big cinnamon roll this am that was to die for. The lady here says 7 hours to Whitehorse (Yukon Territory) and then another 800 miles of tough road to Anchorage. This is a long, long trip but very, very cool. Rugged mountains. Remote roads. Little country stores that are right out of the 60's and 70's. Wildlife. Snow capped mountains. Turquoise blue/green water. We are anxious to wet a line.
Will post again in a couple of days if I can. Bye for now...
Going backwards a couple of days - things came together nicely before we left. I knew I wasn't going to make it, so I swallowed my pride and asked the folks for some help. Mom and dad helped with cleaning my camper, doing laundry, and dishes - while I shopped, ran errands, packed, and had a tooth pulled. I must have been completely exhausted because the morning I left, Dad had to shake and shake on me to bring me back to life. I was late getting to PJ's house (which is really rare for me) and I still haven't heard the end of it! But, PJ left the lights on and killed my battery, so we are even I guess.
North Dakota was a bugger. We had 30 MPH north winds and my truck was guzzling gas. But it is what it is, so we enjoyed watching waterfowl. The ditches and fields were flooded and running with water. Then hens were nesting, and the drakes were trading back and forth across the highway looking for whatever action remains to be had. We saw Pintails, Shovelers, Redheads - lotsa species we don't see much in MN, and the regulars too (Mallards, Teal, Woodies, etc.)
Montana was almost completely eventless. We decided to stay in the US as long as possible to save on gas - short of crossing the rockies. We crossed the border south of Calgary - about 2 am, and it was not manned to well. It took 90 minutes to have our vehicle inspected, and the guns I brought along didn't help. Alberta was eventless too. Got rid of the wind, but endured lots and lots of rain. We finally shut it down last night at about 11pm. We had been driving for 41 hours, and both of us needed some rest.
Getting gas last night the last time was funny. We were in the middle of nowhere and had no idea where our next gas stop would be. Gas has been continually climbing - from 3.59 a gallon in Montanny, to ten bucks a gallon where we are now. The last thing we want to do is run out at night in this remote country. So anyway, we stop at the ho-dunk dive bar/cafe that has a gas pump straight from the 1950's. The lady comes out and unlocks it and we started disputing the usefulness of the metric system. I told her the US was interested in it until I was in 5th grade, and then we abandoned it, and they should do the same. Then she started asking about how we would buy and sell pot? Not too much later, she looked at me funny and said something about being a cannibal, and that we should watch out tonight. We left.
After a good night sleep, we got back on the trail to a beautiful sunshiny day. This am, we have seen a half dozen moose and at least ten bears. One sow had three cubs, and when I got too close, she charged - but she was bluffing. I got some fun pictures. The bears are pretty intensely eating grass in the ditches, which is good for me. We also saw a big cow moose with a newborn calf. Lots of buffalo too. Even a few mountain caribou, and two bighorn sheep. I tried to slap a buffalo in the hinder as we passed, but he was just a little too fast for me.
Well, I must go. PJ is tired of waiting for me. First he says his butt is sore from sitting, and he just can't stand it anymore. Then he's anxious to get going - it's a long ways. So it's a handfull keeping this guy happy, but so far I'm still grateful to have him along. He bought me a new battery for my truck (nice birthday present), and a big cinnamon roll this am that was to die for. The lady here says 7 hours to Whitehorse (Yukon Territory) and then another 800 miles of tough road to Anchorage. This is a long, long trip but very, very cool. Rugged mountains. Remote roads. Little country stores that are right out of the 60's and 70's. Wildlife. Snow capped mountains. Turquoise blue/green water. We are anxious to wet a line.
Will post again in a couple of days if I can. Bye for now...
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