<– Day 12: Aug 1, Feliz Aniversario Hugo Vidal | Day 14: Aug 3, The Journey Nears its End –>

A few folks (Tom, left, and Jim and Ron, right) from the Alaska Or Rust crew spotted this passed out guy near our Whitehorse hotel. Now he’s kind of famous. This photo is one of my favorites from the trip.

Yesterday we travelled from beautiful Whitehorse to the tiny gas-motel-stop of Beavercreek, just at the edge of the Alaska border.

Yesterday morning the Vidals and FCA’s cinematographer split off from the group and, thanks to Stephen Reynolds, enjoyed a plane ride over the mountains. Also, many thanks to Stephen and his employer The Department of Tourism & Culture who paid for the Convoy Team’s meal Tuesday night! So a big hearty thank you for making Hugo’s party even more special! On top of that, Stephen is an awesome guy!

After the Vidals left, I went down to check on our jeeps and found a pylon in the back of Patterson. I found that amusing. What I didn’t find amusing was that the case of flavored waters I had in the back of Patterson was still there. Why the heck won’t someone steal those flavored waters? They were bought accidentally by my lovely wife and neither of us found them palatable. I’ve left them in the back of Patterson for days, but I’ve had no takers … literally, no one will take them from us!!

Maybe there’s a hint here … that Patterson is a hazard to be avoided???

With Hugo and Fernando on their own, the rest of the group hit the road at 8am, making it as far as the onramp to the Alaska Highway, before pulling off to do some patching. Andreas needed his exhaust patched again, Joe needed a part rewelded to his trailer, but most of all Bill had some cracks in his trailer arms at the elbows. Had they broke, he could have lost the trailer!

Always-Prepared-Marty and Miracle-Don pulled out the battery-powered portable welder and some flat steel. Then, with the help of several others, set out to create metal patches to reinforce both sides.

As they worked away, we encountered our second rude Canadian of the trip. The guy was upset that we had pulled off the highway and were sitting on a side road. He was all in a kerfluffle over the fact that we had parked on the government’s property (which made no sense since I would imagine most public roads are owned by the Canadian government??). We explained we were broken down and needed a little time to get going again, but that didn’t soothe him at all. Oh well, can’t please everyone. Continue reading →

<– Day 11: July 31st, Bison, Bears, and (no) Breakdowns | Day 13: Aug 2, Perma-Grins Despite Melting Permafrost –>

Alaska Or Rust jeeps parked in front of Watson Lake’s Sign Forest. The sign forest was a pleasant surprise.

Yesterday the group split, with the Eilers and Vidals leaving Watson Lake early for a special event. Eventually, we met up again in Whitehorse.

The group split for most of Tuesday. Ann and I and Fernando and Hugo took off earlier than the others for a special birthday event for Hugo. Before we left, we stopped at Watson Lake’s sign forest, which I thought was just a few hundred signs. In fact, one count places the number of signs at 75,000!! It truly is a forest of signs. It’s so big, that the convoy crew told me they spent almost an hour there. Here is a mix of photos from there.

Ann took this Facebook Live video as we were driving away from the Sign Forest (before everyone else arrived). You can see just how large it is:

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<– Day 10: July 30th, Cruising the Alaska Highway | Day 12: Aug 1, Feliz Aniversario Hugo Vidal –>

Happy 84th Birthday today Hugo! (Aug 1)

Today we drove from Fort Nelson to Watson Lake, a distrance of 326 miles. Partly overcast as we left the city, we could see some dark clouds ahead that lingered over the pass we were approaching.

We drove from Fort Nelson to Watson Lake

We were only a few minutes outside of Fort Nelson when we spotted photographer Monicque Jacobs, who took pictures at Dalex Auto Service’s event on Sunday evening. That’s when Ann shouted, “Oh crap!”

“What’s the matter,” I asked.

“I was supposed to let Monicque know when were leaving the city.”

Monicque, this is our apology to you! Fortunately, she’s a professional and was ready for our exit.

A slight drizzle started, then turned to full rain as we climbed up the pass. The speed dropped and road tightened into a snaking mountian road, climbing until we were surrounded by mist.

When we summited, we took a break. Those that had Pacific Northwest Four Wheel Drive Association hoodie-sweatshirts lined up for a photo in the rain.

PNW4WDA Hoodie wearers. It was a cold day on the summit.

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