Re: North to Alaska - The Rest of the Story
Thank goodness everyone's okay down in Alabama, Missouri, Tennessee, Virginia, etc. I didn't want to clutter the forum up with my ramblings until we made sure everyone made it thru the storms.
Anyway, we spent the night in an Ohio Turnpike rest area. They have two, if I remember correctly, with RV electrical hookups and a dump station and potable water supply. The next day, April 19, we headed off thru Indiana and Illinois. At our lunch stop my Bro-In-Law discovered that the 4-way plug from the trailer to the motorhome had become disconnected and had been dragging on the pavement for who knows how long. Anyway, it was pretty much ground down to a nub. So we stopped in a Walmart parking lot, bought another plug, and spent two and a half hours in the rain and wind trying to get it fixed. Several blown fuses later we decided to find an RV repair shop. We ended up at 120 RV in Round Lake, Illinois. We got there shortly before closing time and the guys worked in the trailer for an hour (and several more blown fuses) before giving up having only restored the running lights. So we headed back up the Interstate thru rain, sleet, snow and hail and spent the night in a Wisconsin rest area.
Everything else went pretty good except for going up US 85 from the Interstate to US 2. US 85 is now a pipeline haul road for the oil fields and is covered in red mud and big, muddy trucks speeding to beat the band. Motorhome now looks like I just drove up a 50 mile dirt road.
We entered Canada just North of Shelby, Montana, and for the first time ever got the full inspection treatment. Had to pull the motorhome into a big garage, Had three inspectors go thru everything (pretty much), storage bins, slide out, suitcases - everything but a TSA pat down. But they were very polite and even displayed a sense of humor. Spent that night (April 22) in a Walmart parking lot in Airdrie, BC.
April 23 - Fort St. John, BC
April 24 - Watson Lake, Yukon
April 25 - Tok, AK
April 26 - Anchorage, AK
Somewhere on the ALCAN I managed to rip a fender off the trailer. Last year it was the rear bumper on the toad, this year the trailer. Every year I seem to lose a piece of my a** somewhere in Canada. Maybe there's a lesson to be learned here.
Anyway - grand total - Sebring, FL to Wysox, PA to Anchorage, AK - 5867.6 miles
And
$3385.01 for gas alone - not including campground fees, food, repair bills, toll road fees, etc. :angry: :angry: :angry:
But we are here now for the summer - if it ever gets here.