Greetings from Bellingham, Washington,
WHAT ??? Yeah, we not only aren't in Alaska any more, we're not even in
Canada. We just came across the border about 10 pm, and we're crashing
for the night.
July 7: Yep! We took the Campbell Highway alright. We got a late
start, but, since there wasn't any decent stopping place along this
route, we just kept on driving until we came out on the other end at
Watson Lake. It was something like 360 miles through the Campbell, rough
and dusty (but what else is new), and 40 mph most of the way. After a
while it started to remind us of the Haul Road to Prudhoe Bay, lots of
nothing but gravel and dust, on and on. And again, 230 miles to the last
fuel stop, and no advanced notice this time. No big trucks here, and no
cars either. In the last 230 miles we only saw a few vans or pickups.
Coming through Dawson City the day before, we were thinking about
replacing the trailer tires (for the third time) while passing through
Whitehorse. But then when we took the Campbell Highway we bypassed
Whitehorse. The trailer tires were pretty bald by this time, and as
expected, we had one flat on the trailer with 200 miles still to go
before Watson Lake. No harm, no foul. The spare with the huge boot
covering the big gash from the Haul Road did just fine, took it from the
side of the trailer, didn't have to pull the new one out of the boot.
Considering the small rocks flying up from the trailer tire with only
half a fender an occasionally peppering the backs of our heads, and the
rain starting up around 6 pm, and the temperature dropping into the 50's
(F), we finally conceded to put the top up for the first time since
Prudhoe Bay. Then something else really strange began to happen. About
10 pm it was getting darker, and darker, and darker. The sun god had
abandoned us. Then the wild life started getting frisky. Around 11 pm a
fair sized black bear went ambling across the road a hundred yards ahead.
A few minutes later a sizeable grizzly literally jumped out of the woods
right in front of the car and ran across the road. If we hadn't hit the
brakes we may have had a trophy to carry out. On the other hand, maybe
some grizzly would have had an easy dinner. We were definitely wide
awake after that encounter.
July 8: We finally managed to roll into Watson Lake at 1am, after
everything was closed of course. Being nearly out of gas and very thin
on trailer tires, we weren't going anywhere until morning, and it was
raining. After repeatedly getting "No room at the inn" on call after
call, we drove to the one place that wouldn't answer the phone and rang
the door bell. Bingo! Rooms available at Cedar Lodge Motel. A wake up
call at 7 am, please.
First order of business, three blocks away, new trailer tires. They
didn't have the normal whimpy little 4.80 x 8 2-ply tires, and those
don't seem to last long enough anyway, so I thought it was time to give
the 5.70 x 8 4-ply tires a try. Then on to NAPA for a new trailer
wiring connector to replace the one that drug itself to death in
yesterday's gravel. Then a few miles to the west we head south down the
Stewart Cassiar Highway, out of Yukon Territory and into British
Columbia.
Once again, the road wasn't a bad as many had made it out to be. The
Cassiar was more than half paved, and while the gravel parts were rough
and dusty, it was mostly solid and 40 mph. One new experience here was a
pothole big enough to knock off the left front hubcap. No other damage
done, and a few minutes of searching turned up the errant disk in the
weeds about 15 feet off the road. Having done all of the unpaved part of
the Cassiar Highway, late evening found us dusting everything off at a
really nice campground at Kitwanga, BC. About this time we noticed that
the left side trailer fender was missing. And there's also a buff mark
in the dirt on the side of the trailer box. Looks like the new 5.70
tires need a skosh more room than the 4.80's. So, someday the trailer
will need wheel spacers and new fenders.
July 9: With thousands of miles of gravel roads behind us, and only
pavement ahead (well, mostlly), we dropped off the MGA at a garage in
Kitwanga to have the wheels balanced while we had breakfast in the local
cafe. The ballancing job was easier than usual for the mechanic, having
a total of only one lead weight left to remove from the four wheels. Boy
all those gravel roads did a thorough job on the wheel weights!
The rest of the day was pretty easy, almost boring at times. We ran east
into Prince George and then south for most of the day. After passing
again through Cache Creek the roads got more fun, with more hills,
curves, and mountains. At one point the car was sputtering slowly up the
hills with ignition problems, no way to run in traffic. So, at the next
fuel stop, while Carol was putting gas in the car, Barney yanked out the
Mallory dizzy gizmo and stuffed in two new sets of contact points. Ten
gallons of fuel, one quart of oil, new points in the dizzy, personal pit
stop, chicken and cheese potatoes to go, and we were back on the road in
24 minutes.
So now we're in Bellingham. Tomorrow (7/10) we expect to get an early
start and pay a short visit to Sheila Criswell, Dick Criswell's ex-wife,
in Portland,Oregon. Thereafter we will be making tracks in the general
direction of Colorado. With a little planning, persistence, and good
luck, we intend to be camping near Fort Collins on Friday night. On
Saturday, July 12, we intend to get the MGA with an attitude into the Oil
Spot Rally at Fort Collins. With some more traveling we should be camped
near Denver by late Saturday night.
On Sunday, July 13, we intend to keep one of our few appointments of the
Brit Run To The Sun, and run Pike's Peak with any other LBC that wants to
show up. Anyone interested in joining us for the run up Pike's Peak
should contact Larry Hoy (tag Larry, you're it) at <larryhoy@juno.com>.
Currently our best guess at the time for the run up Pikes Peak is 11 am
at the entrance gate, but we will be calling Larry in a day or so as we
get closer to firm up the time.
After that, plans call for a run to San Antonio, Texas, to drop off the
navigator's gear and pickup Little Darling. Come hell or high water the
two red MGAs will be in Grapevine for GT-22 on the evening of the 16th.
See y'all on the high road,
Barney and Carol
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