Our road trip (1 Viewer)

[Sundowners]

Yes, we wouldn't touch anything else and it seems neither will anyone else and because of this the 5.9's are becoming rare as they are sought after. any 5.9's out there are being sold as soon as they become available.
Not sure of the bhp though but goes like hell. Can't wait to get it.

Nigel and Pamala

 

[Sundowners]

Believe it not, we are now set up for the first day of road trip - vehicle and camper all set up so ready for the off. Have been visiting friends near Wichita and off to find Route 66
to start our road trip.

Had to drive 600 miles north from Houston to Oklahoma to get a truck camper , but it was meant to be as the couple we bought it from are into rodeo, their son competes and we went to a meet with them last saturday night, it finished at 2 a.m., really brilliant. Spent time cleaning the camper but had to wait a few days as we had to buy some tie-downs for the camper.

Will try and update when we can get internet access.

Nigel and Pamala

 

[vwalan]

have a good trip keep your eyes open for the lines man. he might be there as well.
get you kicks on route 66. your making us jealous .cheers alan.

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[Sundowners]

Just a small update - we have just crossed the border into Canada just south of Calgary - we will just make it to the Calgary Stampede which finishes on Sunday.

Then it's straight on up north to Alaska,

Weather a bit more bearable now, we can at least sit outside and eat.

Signal very poor so not sure if you'll get this,.

Will write more later

Nigel and Pamala

 

[staging lady]

Yes it is ok. This trip is a dream I've wished to do.
I can't wait to hear all about it so I can work on Dave!
Enjoy yourselves,
Lucille

 

[Pat4Neil]

Glad you have sorted out the equipment, now enjoy the ride and trip.

Have fun, and put some pictures up when you get a chance.

Pat and Neil

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[Sundowners]

Update on our road trip

Have copied and pasted this from word, so I may have repeated a part of an earlier post, so apologies for that.


Update on Our Road Trip - 20th July
We are writing this from Dawson Creek in Canada – the start of the Alaskan Highway.
We made it to the end of Route 66 and got photos of the plaque to prove i,t in Santa Monica, Los Angeles. We arrived at the finish at around 8p.m. and couldn’t wait to get away from LA – we don’t do big cities. We decided to head off out of town before the rush hour in the morning and drove until 12.55 a.m. until we found a truck stop – we put our heads down for the night and left early on our way up to a holiday cabin at Lake Tahoe to meet friends for the 4th July celebrations.

Nigel had the opportunity of going for a ride on a quad with a couple of other guys, unfortunately, he came a cropper and the bike came back onto him and bruised him quite badly, so he was out of action for a few days, it could have been a lot worse and we are thankful it wasn’t. He is just about back to normal.

After Lake Tahoe we went back to our friends house near to San Francisco. We spent a week with them. They took us into SF and we went over the Golden Gate Bridge plus driving up and down the hilly roads and spending the afternoon at Fishermans Wharf – a brilliant day.

We left there just over a week ago after getting a few things sorted on the truck and camper. We headed for Reno, Nevada and then onto Yellowstone National Park, The Glacier National Park and finally into Canada to the Calgary Stampede. Spent last Saturday at the Stampede, next few days travelling north, ending up here at Dawsons Creek, now catching up on emails and laundry plus an oil change on the Dodge before heading to Alaska.

It’s been rather hot until we reached Canada, so thankful we have had the airconditioning in the truck and camper. It ’s great to be able to sit outside and eat. We even hav e to have covers on at night to sleep. It was great to see clouds again. By all accounts, you’ve had it hot there too. At least this is a dry heat.

We heard the Top of the World Highway has been closed because of a washaway – but thankfully it has opened – one lane anyway – with a pilot car to show you through – it was to be a highlight of our trip – so did not want to miss it.

Internet access is few and far between – so again not sure when we will be in touch again. Our plan is to spend about a month touring Alaska – then back through Canada to Niagra Falls - meet some family we haven’t seen for a very long time and also some friends, then down to Chicago to pick up the beginning of Route 66 finishing it back at Oklhoma City, before heading south to Texas and then ship our rig back to the UK.

Bye for now

Nigel and Pamala
.

 

[Ash]

You sound like your both having a fab time safe travels :thumb:

Ash ....

 

[TinaGlenn]

Wow guys what a great trip :thumb: It's one we want to do in the future too.
I know you will be making the most of it all and really enjoying yourselves. Hope to see you both again when you get back and hear about it all.
I'll be in Texas myself in October, but guess you will have flown back by then, if not might see you there

Safe travels

Tina & Glenn

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[Jim]

Great Blog Post Guys, keep them coming:thumb:

 

[American Dream]

Cheers Nigel and Pamala....

Pics Please???

Glad you're having a great time.:Cool:

 

[Sundowners]

Would love to but don't know how to attach them to this forum.

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[JockandRita]

Would love to but don't know how to attach them to this forum.

Maybe if you can email them to Jim, he may be able to post them on the site for you.

Hi Pamela & Nigel,

We are an bit late on here, as we have only just come across the thread. :Blush::Blush::Blush:

Your "wee jolly" sounds like a great adventure, and like others, we are sooooooooo jealous. Like both of you and Rory & Jan, I especially have always wanted to do what you are doing, but with Rita still working, it can't be done..................yet.

Have a great time, and travel safely. Been on a quad bike lately Nigel?

Looking forwards to your safe return, and hearing all about the "wee jolly". :thumb:

Cheers for now,

Jock & Rita.

 

[bobandjanie]

Hi Nigel and Pamela, glad your having a great trip,:thumb: I bet you cant wait to get home. You wouldn't want to be here at the moment were having a summer. Take care Bob and Jane.

 

[Sundowners]

Hi all

An update on our 'road-trip'

So far we have covered over 7000 miles, and at this moment we are sitting outside the library in Delta Junction Alaska.

Up to now we have seen bison,black bear,brown bear (maybe a brown black bear !!) a moose trying to commit suicide, 2 blonde grizzleys and 2 young bald eagles in a nest.

We had to change plan and drive up the Alaskan Highway instead of going up the Klondike Highway to Dawson City, so that we could drive over the Top of The World Highway - an unsurfaced road of 150 miles over the mountains, but unfortunately they have had so much rain that a large part of it washed away, this was to be a highlight of our trip, so we have come direct to Alaska, trip around here first, then hopefully take that route on the way back.

We have bought the sunshine with us, they have not had much this summer and today its been glorious.

We have been making the most of the wifi access at the local library today and are staying here for another day and tomorrow we head north to drive over the artic circle to a place called Coldfoot - you might recognise this place as it's featured in Ice Road Truckers.
A round trip of three days on unsurfaced roads, concerned about the stones the big trucks are going to throw our way.

Will keep you posted when we can.

Nigel and Pamala

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[Pat4Neil]

Cor, you have seen some fantastic wildlife.

It must have been disappointing not to do that Highway, but hopefully it will be open by the time you come back down and be able to use it.

At one time we were going to do that trip on a motorcycle, but now we are hopefully going to do it in a self build truck (I can carry more knickers that way) Plus it would be much better to have youre own bed for the night.

Sounds like youre having a great time, keep up the blog, I am sure it will wet the appetite of those who would like to do that trip someday.:thumb:

Pat

 

[madbluemad]

Brilliant Stuff. Keep on having a gooood time.

Jim

 

[Sundowners]

Hi
We just spent 2 days on the HAUL ROAD (the same one on Ice Road Truckers) nearly all graded dirt--- but no ice/snow in the summer !!!! Over the arctic circle.
Lots of smoke from bush fires-----We also had a light shower of rain !!!!!!! 84 f yesterday (65 F now (7.30 PM)
Just left Fairbanks on the way to Anchorage via Denali (Mt. Mc.inley)
Now covered 8.000 miles
Nigel & Pamala

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[Jim]

Thanks guys, Really enjoying your story :thumb: Keep it coming

 

[Sundowners]

21st August, 2010 - Update on ‘Our Road Trip’

Today we are on a campsite in Valdez after catching a ferry from Whittier yesterday. After writing previously, we went on the Hatchers Pass road and what a road that was, gravel, but gorgeous scenery and tight hairpin bends up the mountainside. Got some good pictures, might put one on Facebook.

We had to renew the number plates on our pickup as the ones we got in Texas were only valid for two months. Thinking we might only get temporary ones again, we were more than surprised to get Alaskan plates which are valid for two years. At first we were told we have to renew the plates in Texas, we only had two days left before they ran out so that was not going to happen. We went to the head office in Anchorage and hey presto we now have Alaskan plates and are over the moon with them.

From Anchorage we headed south to the Kenai Peninsular and spent a few days travelling around. Again we saw beautiful scenery but more snowy mountain tops than in the rest of Alaska that we have been to. We saw two other black bears, also sea otters, bald eagles, and a sea lion came close to our camper as we were parked on the beach front at Homer. Plenty of salmon jumping in the sea and also saw them in a river that we camped beside.

We back tracked to one place, Hope, we liked it so much and we found a spot beside a river which is supposed to still have gold in it, even though they might only be flakes, but you have permission from the forestry commission to pan for gold anytime and can stay by the river for a max. of 14 days. We already bought a pan sometime back, so bought a small folding shovel and got down by the river and sifted through the silt from the river bank. No one else was around, we had the place to ourselves, only trouble was we didn’t know what to look for or if we were doing it right, but really enjoyed doing it, especially as the sun was shining and by a beautiful spot, couldn’t have asked for more. Did we find anything – not sure, bought a few stones away with us, and some of the silt so that our grandson can try it when we get home – no big nuggets, but hey ho!

We had planned to do a cruise to see some glaciers, but we decided to take the 6 hour ferry crossing to Valdez over the Prince William Sound first and see if we went past any glaciers on the way and if not we would arrange a trip from here. No need to organise a trip as the crossing was absolutely brilliant. We saw a lot of glaciers, admittedly there were not as close as if we went on a cruise, again scenery was spectacular as the day was so clear and plenty of sun. Forgot to mention that we had 5 days of rain after leaving Anchorage but the locals had had it for 32 days non-stop. We couldn’t complain as we had been very lucky with the weather.

One of the glaciers – Columbia – had a mile piece break off it about two weeks ago and now it is floating in millions of pieces over a large area, just like icebergs (mini ones), the boat had to find a safe passageway through them, taking it very slowly, thought we were in another World.

Wifi has been very sporadic since we left Anchorage, campsites that have it charge a lot for a pitch and the last one we stayed on, said they had it, we paid our fee and then found they didn’t have it, so we were none too pleased. We try and use forestry campsites at $10.00 per night, but they have no facilities only parking and water. We don’t need electric as we drive everyday mostly and charge the battery that way.

We have been on line today to look to see if the Top of The World Highway is open, it’s been closed on and off because of rain damage to the gravel road. At the moment they are only opening it three days a week and then you are piloted through in a convoy which is twice a day. We have to be there on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday of next week to get through. It’s been one of the highlights we wanted to achieve, so keep fingers crossed they won’t have too much rain before then. Another highway we wanted to go on, Stewart Cassier Highway, we noticed this morning they have problems with access because of forest fires, they are taking small groups in convoy through that as well, but it will be about a week and a half before we get there, so it might be better by the time we get there, all depends on the wind, as it fans the fires.

Anyway, that’s about it, have to go and prepare a lovely big piece of salmon for tea that the campsite owner has just given us, he also gave us a piece to put in the freezer.

All the best – til next time.

Nigel and Pamala

 

[JockandRita]

Wow Nigel & Pamala,

It all sounds absolutely wonderful. Keep it coming please.

Safe travels,

Jock & Rita.

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[wizzer59]

Realy enjoying reading about your travels sounds like your having a wonderful time, keep it coming. Thank you:thumb:.

 

[Sundowners]

Yippee!!!! riving2:riving2:- one of the top priorities of our trip was to travel over The Top of the World Highway between Alaska and Yukon, Canada - unfortunately, it has been closed on and off for over a month, but they have opened it for three days this week and are escorting 2 convoys through per day. We came over it yesterday and what a trip. Quite exciting on the parts that had washed away and they are still trying to repair after all the rain.
:thumb::thumb:

Nigel and Pamala - Dawson City, Yukon, Territory, Canada

 

[American Dream]

Sounds fantastic guys.

Hope you're taking lots of pics...:thumb:

Happy and Safe Trails.:Cool: Keep the blogs coming.

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[JockandRita]

Yippee!!!! riving2:riving2:- one of the top priorities of our trip was to travel over The Top of the World Highway between Alaska and Yukon, Canada - unfortunately, it has been closed on and off for over a month, but they have opened it for three days this week and are escorting 2 convoys through per day. We came over it yesterday and what a trip. Quite exciting on the parts that had washed away and they are still trying to repair after all the rain.
:thumb::thumb:

Nigel and Pamala - Dawson City, Yukon, Territory, Canada

Nice one you two.

Stick with it, and have a great time.

All the best,

Jock & Rita.

 

[Pat4Neil]

Great write up you two, really please you managed to the Top of the Road Highway route.

Have fun

Pat

 

[weekenders]

Hi Pamela & Nigel
sounds like your having a brilliant time out there, and all your dreams are coming true.
hope your taking lots of piccies
safe journey

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[Sundowners]

Our Road Trip – Update 4th September, 2010
Washing all done, fresh water tank filled and grey and black tanks emptied, cupboards and fridge replenished so that means we are ready to head off once again. Not forgetting completing our obligatory update to all.
We are heading from Valdez in the direction of Top of the World Highway, we get to the beginning of the road to Chicken where the convoy starts from and there is a sign to say the road is closed, OH NO! SCREAM! But then it carries on to say that they are taking convoys through as we had seen on the internet. Hooray! We head off the 60 miles or so to Chicken, some of it unpaved road, leaving a trail of dust behind us.
Not a lot to see at Chicken, three road houses, a couple of gift shops and there is a tour of the old village for $7.00, we opted out of that. There is also a massive dredge that was used for mining gold up until the late sixties. We thought it quite fascinating until we got to Dawson City and saw the devastation to the land caused by this monstrosity and others of similar size.
We particularly wanted to head for the road house that is run by a woman from Anchorage who stays there all summer and then heads back to Anchorage for the winter. She lets you camp beside her place free of charge, the others charge anything from $15.00 for dry camping to $30 with hookup. We prefer the more rustic type of place without all the trimmings, so set up beside her emporium, if you can call it that. We had some lunch at her cafe and met a couple of really nice guys and wouldn’t you know it, one of them is into Landrovers and he was travelling around Alaska in his kitted out Discovery. The other guy was on a motorbike and he was travelling the roads of the Ice Road Truckers. They both hailed from California. We all left as best friends.
There were to be two convoys per day over to Dawson City from Chicken, our friends opted to go on the first one which left at 8 a.m., we knew there would be a lot of vehicles in that one so decided to go on the one that left at 12 p.m. – it also meant we could have a lay-in. We got in line ready for the off, it was over an hour late leaving. There were about 50 vehicles in our convoy and we found out later that the first convoy had more than 100.
We were led by a pilot car (a guy in a pickup who drives in front of everyone), you follow him in single file. The section we had to cross was only 30 miles long, but there had been a lot of damage due to heavy rains in the area and the road construction crew were very busy trying to repair the washaways, what a trip that was, it took us just over two hours, I didn’t care how long it took as long as we could go on the Top of the World Highway. We then had to go through customs as we were heading to Dawson city which is in Canada. The only trouble was we had all of these vehicles in front of us, we were probably in the middle. It took us just over 4 hours to do the trip, but we also found out that some people in the other convoy took nearly 8 hours. When you reach Dawson City from that direction you can only get to it by a ferry across a river, with them only fitting two large RV’s on and a few cars at a time, you can imagine how long it was taking to ferry everyone over to the other side, especially the ones in the long convoy.
We spent a great two nights in Dawson City and worth every penny it took to get us there. Just like being in a town you see in western movies. Before we headed out of town we asked at the visitors centre about a road that we wanted to go on, to see if it was OK for travel. There was also another which was a lot smaller (both being unpaved). We were assured that both were in good enough condition, however she did point out that it was good we had four wheel drive as we might need it on the smaller one. Again we made sure we had enough supplies, because on some of these roads, you can drive for 100 miles without any services or places to fill up with fuel.
We hit the Robert Campbell Highway, supposedly unpaved, and we found the first 50 miles to be good and it was also tarmac. Unfortunately because of frost heaves (that’s where the frost has pushed up the tarmac which leaves humps and dips) we had to slow down a lot because it was VERY bumpy and can cause our camper to lift and drop back heavily onto the truck. We have travelled 100’s of miles on this type of road, but we got a bit complacent on this one and we hit one quite hard, but there were three altogether so the momentum caused one of our tie downs to pull out of the camper (thank goodness not all of the way), when we eventually stopped we had a look around and have now helped this tie down with a ratchet strap tied to the bracket of the leg on the camper. Made us a bit more wary for the rest of the tarmac. It wasn’t long after that that we hit the gravel road. There was a sign to our next destination (Watsons Lake) and from my memory now, it was about 380 miles. Can you imagine driving on a dirt road for that length without any services whatsoever, and nobody lives there either, so if anything happened you couldn’t just go and knock on their door and ask for help.
We found a beautiful place to camp for the night, right next to a lake, we were high up in the mountains and there was frost on the ground and camper the next morning. Looking back, we are amazed at the desolation of the place and what were we thinking of travelling on our own along that road. We did see other vehicles but only about 8 maximum on the whole road in the 9 hours it took us to drive it. After leaving the lovely camping spot we hit the road again and came across road construction and, my god, what a mess we had to try to navigate through, couldn’t turn back, not the distance we had travelled, certainly pleased we did not have an ‘A’ Class or expensive motorhome to take through that and very pleased we had our 4x4 pickup.
Our next destination was Hyder which can be reached by going down the Stewart Cassiar Highway, thank goodness the forest fires had quietened down enough for us to get through, there were still places where it was still on fire and right next to the road, but the fire seemed to be underground more than anything. Hyder is the place to go and watch the bears catching the salmon and is also back in Alaska, so we had another border crossing to do. We arrived just in time as there is a viewing point and a grizzly bear and her cub had just come down out of the forest to come and fish. Also seeing the big salmon was something else.
We stayed at a nearby campsite behind a pub and got to post some pictures on facebook. We left early in the morning, now heading south. We reached Jasper and Banff National Parks about three days later and had a nice drive through them, staying at a forestry campsite in the mountains overnight. The scenery was something else, it seems as though the weekend before we got there they had had a flurry of snow, so made the mountains even prettier than they already were. Not much wildlife there, which surprised us, we only saw one deer, but then there a lot of cars driving through. Having brilliant sunshine made it even better as we could see the mountain tops.
After another nights camping in British Columbia we came over the border into Montana, USA yesterday. We have decided to head over to Niagra Falls by driving along the northerly states of the USA as it is cheaper and there are places we want to see.
So folks, that brings us to now. Til next time – ya’ll take care now.
Nigel and Pamala

 

[JockandRita]

Amazing stuff Pamala & Nigel.

Stay safe whilst enjoying yourselves.

Best regards,

Jock & Rita.

 

[Sundowners]

Hi
on odd occasions we stop in Wall-Mart car parks----on our way to see Buffalo Bill and decided to stop in one tonight!!! and it is right next door to Comfort Inn----so we have got free camping AND really good free wi-fi AND the cloud is lifting from the Rockies---so we have them beside us !!!!
I love when it all works out well !!!!!
Nigel & Pamala

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