Monthly Archives: June 2010

Mike, Danny, Judy, & Tammy (Mike & Judy drive the sedan and Danny & Tammy drive the coupe)

From the sunny blue skies of yesterday to the rainy gray today the “Valley of Eagles” proved to be one of our favorite stops in Alaska! The gentle rain that continued throughout the day only enhanced the colors of this beautiful place. We drove the Fords eleven miles to Chilkoot Lake State Park. Every turn and curve of the road revealed new sites such as towering mountains sculpted by glaciers, emerald fjords, rain fed waterfalls, soaring eagles, and harbor seals. Salmon fishing was also popular even in the rain. The salmon is at the center of this community and brings in the eagles, orca, and bears which also bring in the tourists.

We visited the several museums today including the Sheldon Museum and Cultural Center containing native craft work, pioneer artifacts and mementos of the gold rush. At the American Bald Eagle Foundation’s museum and research facilities, the entire spectrum of animals and sea life is realistically displayed. The room containing animal pelts, antlers and moose “paddles” provided props for amazing photos of Judy (an angel) and Danny (not exactly sure what to call him). The favorite with the guys today had to be the Hammer Museum with 1500 hammers on display! We ended the day with a meal of locally caught seafood and look forward to our ferry to Skagway tomorrow.

Thanks again for all your comments and prayers.

We haven’t blogged in a couple of days due to inclement weather and Canada’s unfriendly wi-fi. In order to reach Haines, Alaska we had to backtrack through Canada and spend the night at an old familiar site – Haines Junction, Canada. We had previously spent the night at Klaune Kampground and voted it the most scenic campsite on our trip. It felt good to be back in a place that was familiar and homey. Of course you can never truly get homesick pulling your home behind you. For you “of little faith” – yes we have spent every one of our 27 nights on the road in our home away from home! Coming back this direction required going over the same rough, muddy, graveled, washboard roads this time with steady rain. Our campsite on Sunday night was at Border City, Alaska and was voted the muddiest camp site to date. This camp ground was mostly geared toward Alaska Highway road construction workers so you can draw your own conclusions. We will include a photo to help you understand the scenario.
Today is a different story – had we not had to come to Haines to catch a ferry we would have missed the most beautiful scenic drive of our entire trip! As Danny said, “words cannot describe this!” We will let the pictures do the talking!
We will be in Haines for five days where we hope to spend a day fishing for salmon, taking a fast ferry over to Skagway, going to an eagle educational center to watch eagles in their habitat, bear and whale watching.
The guys are doing some preventative maintenance this evening and giving the cars the TLC that they deserve after the mountains we have asked them to climb.

Gone Fishing

Since the beginning of this trip Mike’s sedan has used less gas than our coupe at each fill-up. At first we thought it was just a matter of topping our tank to a higher level. After several fuel stops it was obvious that Mike was getting better gas mileage. We adjusted our carburetor as lean as we could to the point where it would barely idle but still couldn’t match his mileage. We were puzzled since he was  pulling as heavy a load if not more. We attributed the difference to our recently overhauled engine still breaking in. Later in the trip the sedan began to lose power on the hills. The engine showed signs of fuel starvation eventually stalling out on a long steep grade. As usual with breakdowns it happened on a busy fast paced road with rain and fog. We suspected water in the gas since this had been  a previous problem but the settling glass bowl looked good. Also all the filters looked clean. The supply of gas through the line was very weak but a quick puff of air opened it up and the car ran fine. Unfortunately on the next long hill the problem reoccurred and the same procedure got us on the road again. We began to fear the high alcohol content of the fuel used in northern climates was causing the lining of the gas tank to disintegrate and clog the fuel line. This would be a major problem on the road. The liner supplier advertises the product is resistant to such damage and we hoped the claims were true.
When we arrived at camp the rain had stopped and the sun was out allowing further investigation.

Really Full

With the help of a flashlight it was possible to see what appeared to be a shiny new BB resting in the depression of the gas drain. A magnetic stick was not attracted to the little orb and a wire hook could not wedge beneath it. In final desperation a sharp point was cut on the end of a stiff wire. Like a spear fisherman, Mike jabbed the wire into the occlusion  amazingly snagging it. What emerged from the tank was a perfectly round bead of solder centered in a tiny brass washer. Anyone experienced in replacing or repairing a Model A gas gauge would immediately recognize what holds the cork or rubber float on the gauge arm and Mike remembered losing them in the last repair. It had taken several thousand miles and the rough road to the Arctic Circle to wiggle and jiggle this miniature flapper valve into a matching seat. As we’ve all done when making repairs and what we need isn’t readily available we make it work with the intent to come back and replace everything perfectly and then forget. You can bet the gasoline filter inside the fuel shutoff will be replaced when we get home. In the meantime Mike is considering applying for a patent for his fuel restrictor valve he accidentally invented. If he can figure out how to control it he may have a Model A Prius on his hands.
Today the sedan is zipping up the hills with no problem and still getting better gas mileage than the coupe. It looks like the restrictor valve idea is a fluke, however in the future you may still obtain one as an added bonus to your Sham-Wow purchase, as seen on TV!

It was still raining when we got up this morning, so we decided to stop at MacDonald’s for breakfast. We started thinking that we should make reservation for our ferry ride home. We found out that it was getting booked up in a hurry and the only thing we could get was a July 4th booking. That should be one good 4th of July party. We will leave Haines on the fourth and arrive in Prince Rupert on the 5th.
We had a very raining day of driving and the mountains were foggy and beautiful. We saw our first glacier today, and what a sight it was. It covered two or three miles as it rolled out of the mountain canyon. We pulled off to eat and get gas and the mountain behind our cars was so large and looming over them, and partly hid by heavy clouds.
Tonight we are in a very secluded campground with a creek running behind us. We have seen signs of beavers chewing on and actually taking down trees right beside our camp. If they do this tonight we hope they yell timber so we can get out of the way.

We drove 230 miles today looking at some of the most beautiful scenery. It keeps getting better and better. We were disappointed that Mt. Mckinley was not visible due to cloud coverage. The mountains we saw driving to Wasilla was spectacular. Wasilla is a city of 7 thousand and we did not have any trouble finding camp sites with the snow covered mountains in the background towering above us. The rain started after we got here, and I can tell it is going to be a great night of sleeping with the rain tapping on our campers.
We also visited the Wasilla Museum of Transportation today and the guys really enjoyed looking through the rooms and fields of cars, trucks, trains, and planes! The staff members were so excited to see us and offered free camping and an opportunity to participate in their annual festival that starts this weekend. Tomorrow we will go to Anchorage and then onto Homer or Seward.

It has been a lifelong dream of ours to visit the Denali National Park and Preserve and view the wild animals in their natural habitat among the tallest peaks in the world. Judy’s previous entry describes our eight hour “school bus” journey into park so I will include a few impressions of the animals and mountains.

We were up this morning to catch a bus into the Denali Park at 6:00am. It was a beautiful morning but very cool, so we were prepared to see many animals.
We were not disappointed. We saw a grizzly bear and her cub about 16 miles into the park. That would be the first of 6 grizzlies. We saw fox, wolf cubs, caribou, marmots, snowshoe hairs, moose and big horn sheep. It was a very eventful day. It was sixty-six miles of beautiful scenery, haripin curves and narrow roads. I wish everyone of you could experience this beautiful park for yourselves.
Tomorrow we head toward Anchorage with a stop in Wasilla to see Sarah.

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We had three days in Fairbanks, so time to move on. The road today was much better so we got here early enough to go to Wilderness Center and get our tickets for the bus ride into the park. We will be on the bus that leaves at 6:00am. Our hopes is that we will see more wild life in early hours of the morning.

The drive today was 123 miles of beautiful scenery. We drove the 12 miles into the park that they would allow you to drive in your automobile. We tried to get a look at Mt. Mckinley but it was hiding today, maybe we will get a better look at it tomorrow. As of today we have driven 5,305 miles and have enjoyed every one of them.

Shine on

We have experienced our first casualty due to a rock that managed to catch Mike’s driver’s side headlight lens almost exactly in the center. He kept the glass in place with good old duct tape until we got to the campsite. Fortunately, we have a replacement lens with us! We are early in the trip with a lot of rough road conditions ahead so we needed to engineer a type of protective covering. The law requires running headlights on during daylight hours in many areas. We purchased clear vinyl floor mats from the local Walmart and cut lens sized ovals to cover the headlights. The protective covers were secured with duct tape and packing tape. We will let you know how it works out down the road!

Today is June 21st, the summer solstice, the longest day of the year and the day we drove to the Arctic Circle where on this date the sun does not set. We left our Fairbanks campground at 6:30am and arrived at our destination at 4:00pm. In between were some of the nastiest roads we have ever encountered! Our A Models look like the “mud run” winners at the local county fair. It was over 300 miles of dirt, dust, mud, rocks, potholes, and craters. Mountains  with seven degree grades with names like “Twister” and “Roller Coaster” forced us to use second gear a lot. What we thought would be an eleven hour round trip turned into an eighteen hour adventure. The scariest part of the trip was rolling into the only gas stop on fumes and finding out that they were out of gas. We did not have enough fuel to go back or go on. There were about a dozen people there that had been stranded since early that morning. Thankfully the gas truck soon arrived and we were on the road again.  The gas station was selling “We’ve been to the Arctic Circle” bumper stickers for $5 but we figured anyone who looked at our cars could figure out where we had been. Tomorrow we plan to explore Fairbanks a little more before heading further west. – Tammy & Danny