Out of Alaska
Here we are, just barely, in coastal British Columbia. With our fingers crossed, we anticipate being on a ferry by 6 AM tomorrow morning, which will deliver us further south, to Vancouver Island, where we will ferry hop again into Washington State -- our final crossing of the U.S.-Canada border.
We had a little trouble getting down here. We set out Friday from Anchorage, and went to the Wrangel St.Elias National Park -- the largest and least managed in the U.S. You can hunt there, fish, ride your RV, and camp anywhere you want -- all in the shadow of massive mountains (on the order of 16,000 ft--nearly the height of Mt. McKinley). Our second night out, we opted for a river bed just off the road. That proved to be unfortunate. When we woke up, the rear passenger tire was flat. It turns out a rock had become lodged in the tire (photos forthcoming). We changed it out for our spare (actually the one rear tire that didn't explode on the Jersey Turnpike back in June), and headed to Tok. The tire's under warranty with Sears, but the nearest Sears was 200 miles away in Fairbanks--the opposite direction from where we were headed. We decided to pick up an extra spare for $50 and take our chances on the old tire for the 1,000+ mile journey to Price Rupert. The tire held up remarkably well, and hopefully we'll be able to get the busted one replaced at a Sears in Seattle.
But yesterday troubles of a different kind emerged. The truck stalled twice as we slowed to a stop--once while making a U-turn in the middle of the Cassiar Highway (very scary, as truckers blow through pretty fast), and again on a forest service road we had hoped to camp on, about a mile up. Luckily, we got him started both times and camped near the road. This morning, though, nothing doing. We flagged down a truck who rode on into Kitwanga, the nearest town, and notified the tow guy. He loaded us up and dropped us off at "Eric's" -- the local mechanic. After an hour and a half, the most we had come up with was that the throttle was badly clogged with carbon deposits, which was stopping the air intake valve (?) from pulling air into the engine. This meant that there was no air to be sucked out, which drops the air pressure and pulls fuel into the engine. End result: no fuel in the engine and your car won't start. Using a screwdriver, Eric scraped off most of what he could. He walked and talked John through it all once he figured out what the problem was, which is hardly normal for a mechanic, and was quick to admit that he had been stumped at first. So, $200 and a spare tire later, we're in Price Rupert. Problems never cease, though, and we were having a lot of trouble with the engine on our way here -- jumping, starting to stall, and being generally unruly. But he's starting up and otherwise driving fine.
We're hoping he starts up in the morning, as we have to be at the ferry at dawn before any service stations are open. We're really looking forward to a different mode of transport, and a ferry at that. Hopefully a bit of fog will burn off and we'll have a good view of the Queen Charlotte Islands on our way down -- it's supposed to be some of the most beautiful seacoast in North America.
Again, we've been listening about Katrina on our satellite radio. Amazing the difference between the NPR and FOX stations in coverage. The question ringing in our ears: How can you rebuild the city as it was, or "restore people to their former lives" with any sense of decency, and place 30% of the city's population back into poverty?
We had a little trouble getting down here. We set out Friday from Anchorage, and went to the Wrangel St.Elias National Park -- the largest and least managed in the U.S. You can hunt there, fish, ride your RV, and camp anywhere you want -- all in the shadow of massive mountains (on the order of 16,000 ft--nearly the height of Mt. McKinley). Our second night out, we opted for a river bed just off the road. That proved to be unfortunate. When we woke up, the rear passenger tire was flat. It turns out a rock had become lodged in the tire (photos forthcoming). We changed it out for our spare (actually the one rear tire that didn't explode on the Jersey Turnpike back in June), and headed to Tok. The tire's under warranty with Sears, but the nearest Sears was 200 miles away in Fairbanks--the opposite direction from where we were headed. We decided to pick up an extra spare for $50 and take our chances on the old tire for the 1,000+ mile journey to Price Rupert. The tire held up remarkably well, and hopefully we'll be able to get the busted one replaced at a Sears in Seattle.
But yesterday troubles of a different kind emerged. The truck stalled twice as we slowed to a stop--once while making a U-turn in the middle of the Cassiar Highway (very scary, as truckers blow through pretty fast), and again on a forest service road we had hoped to camp on, about a mile up. Luckily, we got him started both times and camped near the road. This morning, though, nothing doing. We flagged down a truck who rode on into Kitwanga, the nearest town, and notified the tow guy. He loaded us up and dropped us off at "Eric's" -- the local mechanic. After an hour and a half, the most we had come up with was that the throttle was badly clogged with carbon deposits, which was stopping the air intake valve (?) from pulling air into the engine. This meant that there was no air to be sucked out, which drops the air pressure and pulls fuel into the engine. End result: no fuel in the engine and your car won't start. Using a screwdriver, Eric scraped off most of what he could. He walked and talked John through it all once he figured out what the problem was, which is hardly normal for a mechanic, and was quick to admit that he had been stumped at first. So, $200 and a spare tire later, we're in Price Rupert. Problems never cease, though, and we were having a lot of trouble with the engine on our way here -- jumping, starting to stall, and being generally unruly. But he's starting up and otherwise driving fine.
We're hoping he starts up in the morning, as we have to be at the ferry at dawn before any service stations are open. We're really looking forward to a different mode of transport, and a ferry at that. Hopefully a bit of fog will burn off and we'll have a good view of the Queen Charlotte Islands on our way down -- it's supposed to be some of the most beautiful seacoast in North America.
Again, we've been listening about Katrina on our satellite radio. Amazing the difference between the NPR and FOX stations in coverage. The question ringing in our ears: How can you rebuild the city as it was, or "restore people to their former lives" with any sense of decency, and place 30% of the city's population back into poverty?
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