Stephens Big Long Trip. Trip number 30 down or up the Alcan. The saga begins. I have the truck all packed up. Food and snacks 2 bananas, Ritz Crackers,18 boiled eggs, can of easy cheese, bottled water, gallon of ice tea, teabags to make more, and a bag of vanilla Oreos. I only travel first class. When I flew charters at the airline we carried a cargo container of spare parts. Several thousand pounds worth. I have a travel kit I carry, big yellow job box with everything I can think of in it, oil, anti-freeze, transmission fluid, brake fluid, power steering fluid, tool box, spare belts and hoses, hydraulic jack, lug wrench, tow chain. You name it. Most of all a roll of duck tape, fixes everything, even makes airplanes fly.
A few years ago Kari bought me a Spot for Christmas. This little thing uses 4 AAA batteries, sends a signal to the satellite goes to the internet and shows your location in the world within a few feet. Amazing, I took it on a flying trip with me shortly after I got it. I was in some third World country in the Christian Science Reading Room and the Spot reported me in a brothel next door. Apparently third World maps are way off or maybe there was a Google Map shift. This defense has also been used for airliners landing on the wrong airport or runway. Didn’t take it on anymore work trips. I take it on the river in the winter since I travel to the cabin alone sometimes. And in the boat. You can push the emergency SOS button and the boys will come and get you with the helicopter.
I’ll have it with me this trip. If anyone is interested send me a PM with your email and I will add you to the report.
Well it’s time to wake the family up and say bye. First leg is to Tulsa, OK to pick up Rod Alvarez. He is working on a mini class reunion when we get to North Judson just to give you a heads up. Sometime in first week of Aug. that is if he doesn’t bail on me and fly back to Tulsa. On the road again.
I’ll be in touch.
Blue skies!!!
Wednesday July 25, 2018
Made it to Watson Lake, Yukon home of the famous Sign Post Forest. I think if this were in the US it would be ripped down and burned by the libs because not enough sanctuary cities or blue states are represented. I’m glad it is in Canada. Spotted one sign from Berra, KY where my dad went to school.
Watson Lake isn’t my favorite town on the Alcan. Had trouble with Jim Long’s favorite white truck. Also had trouble starting this truck one trip when it was about 35 below. It’s a beautiful day here.
Saw a couple black bears just outside of town when I was pumping fuel.
Since I type so slow I will have to pass all the campers that I passed on the way from Whitehorse again. Only 1000km until the end of the Alcan at Dawson Creek, BC. This afternoon will be the most beautiful part of the drive.
I’ll be in touch.
Blue skies!!!
Big Adventure Update. Hello everyone. I’m behind on posting because all I have been doing is driving and napping. Wednesday afternoon Watson Lake to Ft Nelson is the best part of the Alcan. The scenery is beautiful. Out of Watson Lake you drop down into British Columbia and follow the Laird River past the hot springs. There are always bison along the road along here. This time there were several dozen with calves. Then on to Muncho Lake where the narrow road is squeezed in between the mountain and the blue lake water. It was difficult to drive and take pictures. The road passes through Stone Mountain Provincial Park. Pictures don’t do the landscape justice. Then it’s up the steep winding road to Summit Lake. The video doesn’t show how far it is over the side, but trust me Jim it is a long Long way to the bottom. This time I’m going up. I’ve come down the hill several times in the winter with loaded trailers. Chained up, the Allison transmission braking in a manual low gear. Speed here is not your friend. Throw a goat or two standing in the road and it is very sporting. I only saw one this time. After the Lake it is a good road up and over Steamboat Mountain then on to Ft Nelson. Ft Nelson is my favorite town on the Alcan. The oil exploration business hasn’t ruined it yet. The trip on to Ft St John is pretty boring. I made it to the Holiday Inn Express about midnight and decided to spring for a room for 15000 points instead of napping the back seat of my truck. Ft St John was just a little town when Kari and I made the first trip up in 96. Now it is a city and the traffic starts here all the way to Grande Prairie, Alberta. Mostly oil related. Time for nap. 848 miles covered today.
I’ll be in touch.
Thank you Lord for a safe trip!!
Blue skies!!!
Thursday July 26, 2018
Hello all, Big Long Adventure update for Thursday. Woke up in Ft. St. John, BC. Last time I was here with Kari we had a couple flat tires and needed some new ones. Everything shuts down for the weekend so we hung out at the HI Express until Monday morning. Told the tire guy just to replace all 4 of the trailer tires, tired of having trouble. Now I only buy trailers with radial tires, load range E.
The drive today was pretty boring. 50 miles or so to Dawson Creek and milepost 0 of the Alcan. On to Grande Prairie Alberta, move the clock ahead an hour. Now the road is 4 lane all the way to Edmonton. Took the back roads around the city and joined the highway to Calgary. They grow a lot of flax in this area and the yellow fields of it are beautiful. The highlight of today was a stop in High River, AB aka Hudson in the series Heartland. I stopped at Maggie’s Diner Tack and Feed Store. It was late so everything was closed. I may try to stop on the way back and see if Jack and Lou are there. On down to the border to Sweet Water, MT. I normally cross a lot farther east at North Portal ND. They know me there. There was a line of 3 cars and it took a while. I guess the ICE agent was out back taking care of the kids in cages. He must have been in a hurry to get back to them because he only asked me 3 questions. Are you the only one in there? Yes. How long have you been in Canada? 3 days. Did you buy anything? Yes a doughnut and an ice cream cone. He said have a safe drive. On to Great Falls and the Walmart parking lot by 2 am. Got some ice and travel supplies and crawled in the back seat for a nap. I think when I get to Arkansas I’m going to Bentonville and sleep in the lot at headquarters. They really should move their headquarters to China since they are basically a Chinese company anyway. 942 miles today.
I’ll be in touch.
Thank you Lord for another safe day!!
Blue skies!!
Friday July 27, 2018
Big Adventure update. Friday Great Falls, Montana to Colby, KS. Took back roads to Billings, arrived by the airport on a bluff overlooking the whole valley and city below. The rest of the drive was mostly boring. The good thing the speed limit on the Interstate is 80. Passed by the rodeo grounds in Cheyenne and took the toll road past Denver Airport to join I-70 to Kansas. Holiday Inns were full so I stayed at a budget motel. I couldn’t do the truck after covering 1023 miles for the day. I didn’t take any good pictures today so here are a couple of a building across from Maggie’s in High River. Time for a nap.
I’ll be in touch.
Thank you Lord for a great day!!!
Blue skies!!!
Saturday July 28, 2018
Big Adventure Update – Sat Colby, KS to Tulsa, OK. Hello everyone. I woke up early in Colby pumped some fuel in the tank and headed down the road. I headed east for Salina and saw billboards for the best hamburger in Kansas. Since all I’ve been eating are boiled eggs, Ritz crackers and cheese, and vanilla Oreos I figured I owed it to myself to stop and have one. I went on east past my exit that I was supposed to take to head south a couple more miles, to exit 292, billboard said “Exit 292 Right on Iron” so that’s what I did. Didn’t see any hamburger joint for a couple miles turned around and headed back to the other side of the freeway. There I saw Iron Skillet. So I think this must be it. I go in order a burger, googled best hamburger in Kansas, I hadn’t gone far enough south before turning around. Very disappointing burger. Headed back west to my exit and south by the Salina airport.
In the 70s when I was flying at Winamac, trying to get enough time for my commercial license another pilot told me that he was in Salina and saw a Northwest Airlines 747 doing touch and goes there. I never dreamed that 20 years later I would make my first landing in Salina with Capt. David James. Days gone by. Now on through Wichita where Jim Long and I ferried a Cessna 340 to the radio shop there. I later picked up several new Cessnas at the delivery center, loaded them with Coors beer that wasn’t available east of the Mississippi then and headed back to Valparaiso.
Now it is on to Tulsa. Made it to Rod and Wendy Alvarez’s house with the low fuel light on. I hadn’t seen Rod since high school so we had a lot of catching up to do. We went out to eat, found some cheap diesel to get ready for the next leg in the morning. I spent the night in their spare bedroom and had the best night sleep so far. Easy day only 498 miles.
I’ll be in touch.
Thank you Lord for a safe journey!!
Blue skies!!!
Sunday July 29, 2018
Big Adventure Update – Sunday- Tulsa to Albany, Ga. We watched the weather Sat night and the forecast was for thunderstorms to reach Tulsa about 10 am. I woke up at 5 and I could see the lightning but I couldn’t hear the thunder because I didn’t have my hearing aids in. I got a shower and my bag packed. Rod was up and ready. Wendy took our picture in case the FBI or anybody else needed it. We said goodbye and we’re on the road again. It started to rain just as we pulled out. I had looked at the radar on my phone and figured we would be out ahead of the storm in a few minutes. Wrong, it rained hard for a while and we didn’t get out of the storm until after Muskogee. We went past Ft. Smith and on to Little Rock. I told Rod about being in Little Rock in the 70s and all these FedEx Falcon Jets were parked on the ramp. This guy Fred Smith had an idea to fly mail and money from all the Federal Reserve banks into Little Rock sort and switch everything out then fly back. Thus the name Federal Express. Turns out the founding fathers didn’t want them so they moved to Memphis. Big mistake for Little Rock. Capt. Vern Hysel and I were flying a DC-9 from Memphis to Washington, DC. Fred Smith was one of our passengers. We were on a weather delay and he came up to the cockpit to talk with us. When I was trying to get hired by an airline I decided to get my flight engineer rating to make me more employable. My check ride was on a FedEx 727 in Memphis. Funny how paths cross. It worked, North Central ordered 727s and needed flight engineers so I got hired, by the time our class started it was Republic. Rod was telling me about the places he worked and all the places he had been. I’m sure our paths have crossed without either one of us knowing it. Then it’s on to Memphis, lunch at a barbecue place in Tupelo on to Birmingham where I pointed out the statue of Vulcan on top of the mountain. On to Montgomery and then to Georgia through the Jimmy Carter peanut country passing the turnoff for Americus and Plains. Rod and I agreed that Jimmy was a very intelligent man, he just couldn’t navigate the Washington swamp and he had a lot of bad advisors. We continued on to Albany to the Holiday Inn Express. Sure is nice having some company and someone to help drive. Thank you for joining me Rod. We had a really good day, 895 miles. Keep this up and we will be in North Judson a couple days early.
I’ll be in touch.
Thank you Lord!!
Blue skies!!!
The adventure continues at…. Monday July 30,2018 The Big Long Adventure – Part 2
The View from the Outhouse 