Saturday, May 10, 2008
After months of planning we have finally begun on our grant Alaska adventure. We left Colorado on Friday, late afternoon after some struggles to get out of town. Saturday morning we woke up to blustering winds and falling snow. Our storm windows and great insulation did their jobs admirably. We were staying at a KOA that offered a free ice cream social in the afternoon. Considering the temperature was a mere 45 degrees, we declined the ice cream. By early evening the temperature had warmed up to the mid-60s so we at least able to walk.
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/294275759_ygcUg-M.jpg
Quite a number of the rigs at this KOA are semi-permanent. You can tell that they’re here for a long time because they have “skirts” installed around the base. The purpose of the skirt is to keep the occupants warmer and to keep the winter winds from freezing the water tanks that are located in the basement.
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/294276583_tV3wv-M.jpg
Animal count: a few regular rabbits and one very large jackrabbit.
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/294277578_CMU5n-M.jpg
Diesel price: $4.19 gal.
Monday, May 12, 2008
North To Alaska
Friday, May 9
Robert–North to Alaska at last albeit a bit later than we had planned. As I always say, "It’s always somethin’!" When we first started planning our trip to Alaska, the planned departure date was May 1. Well, May 1 showed up and we weren’t ready. Part of the delay was the lousy weather we had at home. And we had 3 inches of heavy, wet snow on the first. That sure slows down lugging stuff to the trailer for the trip. So we said we will hit the road on May 5 or 6. Then the next delay arrived. The preceding weekend we went to a dinner party at some friends' house. When we got ready to leave, I was carrying the boxes of the food we brought back to the car. It was dark and I missed the last step just before their crushed rock driveway. I fell on my face and right elbow. When we got home I put a big bandage on the elbow and didn’t think too much about it. Well, Monday May 5 the elbow really hurt and so I went to see the doctor. Turns out the wound was a lot deeper than I thought and I had a couple of days of IV antibiotics and all the rest of the stuff that they do to treat a deep puncture wound. After daily trips to get the elbow looked at, by Thursday I got the green light and Friday, May 9 was the departure date.
The start on Friday was a little slower than we had planned as we had run the batteries down when we loading everything. Fortunately hooking up the truck to the trailer provides power for the trailer although not much. It took a while to get enough power to raise the hydraulic jacks. Our planned departure slipped from noon to 3:00 pm.
We made it to Douglas, Wyoming for the first night. That was about 60 miles short of where we would have stayed if we left at noon. No big deal. We will spend two nights here as we just unloaded everything into the trailer without putting anything away. And for those who have never heard of Douglas, Wyoming it is better kept that way. The campground is fine but there is little else to recommend it.
Robert–North to Alaska at last albeit a bit later than we had planned. As I always say, "It’s always somethin’!" When we first started planning our trip to Alaska, the planned departure date was May 1. Well, May 1 showed up and we weren’t ready. Part of the delay was the lousy weather we had at home. And we had 3 inches of heavy, wet snow on the first. That sure slows down lugging stuff to the trailer for the trip. So we said we will hit the road on May 5 or 6. Then the next delay arrived. The preceding weekend we went to a dinner party at some friends' house. When we got ready to leave, I was carrying the boxes of the food we brought back to the car. It was dark and I missed the last step just before their crushed rock driveway. I fell on my face and right elbow. When we got home I put a big bandage on the elbow and didn’t think too much about it. Well, Monday May 5 the elbow really hurt and so I went to see the doctor. Turns out the wound was a lot deeper than I thought and I had a couple of days of IV antibiotics and all the rest of the stuff that they do to treat a deep puncture wound. After daily trips to get the elbow looked at, by Thursday I got the green light and Friday, May 9 was the departure date.
The start on Friday was a little slower than we had planned as we had run the batteries down when we loading everything. Fortunately hooking up the truck to the trailer provides power for the trailer although not much. It took a while to get enough power to raise the hydraulic jacks. Our planned departure slipped from noon to 3:00 pm.
We made it to Douglas, Wyoming for the first night. That was about 60 miles short of where we would have stayed if we left at noon. No big deal. We will spend two nights here as we just unloaded everything into the trailer without putting anything away. And for those who have never heard of Douglas, Wyoming it is better kept that way. The campground is fine but there is little else to recommend it.
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