Heading Into Seattle and On The Road

Thursday - This morning, we headed into Seattle to visit family. A wonderful neighborhood that felt quiet and secluded even though it was a short distance to downtown. But the drive back to Centralia was brutal.

Friday - We left the Thousand Trails park this morning early to make our appointment at Dave & LJs RV furniture in Woodland. We had purchased a new jackknife sofa last July and got it installed today. 

It looks pretty good and not only is it more comfortable than the old couch, but it has a huge drawer for storage. 

After the install, we drove to the same boondocking location I had stopped at in May. It was only a couple of hours away and it’s hard to beat the view. Plus, zero obstructions for StarLink. 

Getting Ready for Travel

Monday - We are finally back in the RV. A huge thank you to Dave and Ginny for letting us store the RV for four months but also for putting us up on the trips through the area this summer. We just drove to the Chehalis Thousand Trails. I set up the StarLink on a portable table until I choose a better solution. A pole mount that works on both the ladder and somewhere up front would be ideal. 

Tuesday - We unloaded most of the stuff in the basement and under the bed. We made a Goodwill run and now have most things sorted. I reorganized one of the bays and was able to fit my bicycle all the way in the middle so there was room for the second e-bike. I am thinking of a hitch mounted rack but those designed to handle the weight of an e-bike are pretty pricey. 

Wednesday - More sorting and cleaning. We have dinner guests this evening so we are trying to get the rig presentable. When we left it last May and again in July, we were kind of rushed. And when I returned last week, I just sort of unloaded the Jeep into anywhere things fit. 

We leave this campground on Friday morning for an appointment in Woodland a bit over an hours drive south.

Short Driving Day to Centralia

Thursday - Only 300 miles today but there was a lot of traffic as the GPS route entered the I-5 corridor just south of SEATAC. Lots of cars and stop-and-go driving. I made it back to the RV around 2pm. After a short break, I started to transfer stuff from the Jeep into the RV. The basement compartments are now full and some stuff will need to ride in the Jeep while we are traveling. 

I started and ran the RV engine (no issues!!) and started the refrigerator. And eventually got the back seat into the Jeep.

Friday - By this morning, the RV refrigerator was back to operational temperature so I can start to fill it back up. Sometime over the last month, the portable fridge/freezer turned off so now there is a cleanup task needed. I think it was all freezer items which included meat…

The project of the day was replacing a shower. Bridget commented that I couldn’t escape working on a house…

Omak, WA

Wednesday - At 450 miles, it was another long-ish driving day. But I made it across the border into Washington. It’s 91°F! A bit too hot to camp out. Plus, all the campgrounds I passed today looked packed. I was thinking of stopping in Canada but putting a few more miles in today made tomorrow trip under 300 miles. That’s good because I’m feeling pretty tired. Two additional days than the drive north back in July, but still long days back to back.

No pictures as my only stops were for gas in Cache Creek, BC, and a quick stop north of Osoyoos to find a cheap hotel. 

Quesnel, BC

Tuesday - A relatively modest 389 mile drive day. Tonight’s stop is a campground/RV park/motel in Quesnel, BC. I must be a creature of habit as I’ve stopped here numerous times over the years. It’s cheap for dry camping with a tent. The tent is finally dry after the dew this morning as it was 72°F when I pulled in. Nice showers though it did cost two loonies. 

Tomorrow, I’m going to head towards Osoyoos, BC, which is about 400 miles according to Google. 

Down the Cassiar

Sunday - Today’s destination was Nugget City at the northern end of the Cassiar Hwy. Rain was also in the forecast as well as lows in the mid-30s (°F) so I stayed in one of their Atco rooms. About 8’x8’ or thereabouts. Bathrooms were in a separate building. 

Monday  - It was cool and clear in the morning. I had breakfast at the restaurant and headed south towards today’s destination, Kitwanga, BC, at the southern end of the Cassiar Hwy after Hwy. So far, 1300 miles which is a bit more than halfway. Yesterday and today were long drive days since camping really wasn’t an option. The next couple of days will be shorter as I’m already getting kind of tired. 

My tent is in TX so I’m using an old tent that I haven’t used since the mid-80s. Tent stakes were missing so it’s attached to the picnic table and the Jeep wheels. The zipper pulls are really worn out so I spent a little time trying to fix them. This is a tent that I made in around 46 years ago and it’s been on a lot of trips. It is a copy of the Stephenson Warmlite which was an ultralight, 4-season tent. It only weighs 1.9 lbs not including the stakes as I opted for a lighter inner tent material so it’s not 5-season. So far, I noticed one rip. I guess I’ll see how it’s aged…

I stopped at Bell 2 for coffee and Dease Lake for gas. Otherwise, no other stops. 

More Stress & On the Road

Wednesday - Another stressful day. The buyers are having an engineer go through the house to identify any potential issues that they may want to be addressed before closing. Maybe I’m just a pessimist and shouldn’t worry so much…

Saturday - This morning, I started heading south. This is just a generic photo between Delta Junction and Tok. I’m having lunch at Fast Eddy’s in Tok as it’s sort of the last really good salad bar before hitting the Alaska Hwy. 

There was a line of RVs at the border so it was about half an hour. But no issues and I’m not in a real hurry on this trip. 

I stopped at Discovery Yukon as they had wall tents as well as RV sites. I’ve stayed here several times before and it is a nice location. Around 350 miles from Fairbanks. The next location is Haines Junction which is another 150 miles. Six weeks ago, I stayed in a rest area near Kluane Lake. Since the Jeep is packed to the roof, sleeping in the car really isn’t an option.

This is the closest I’ve been to “camping” in quite a while. No cell service but the office area has WiFi. Dinner was minimal since I had lunch at Fast Eddy’s. Tomorrow may be a longer drive as I would like to get to the northern end of the Cassiar. 

Misc…

Friday - I dropped a bunch more stuff at the transfer station mostly from the garage. On Wednesday, we dropped off quite a few boxes of kitchen stuff at Journey Church for distribution on Thursday. We have almost as much to drop off again next week. We have multiple piles of stuff headed for storage, transfer station, dumpster, churches, Literacy Council, Value Village, and to be hauled out in the Jeep. Bridget is trying to get hold of a local charity that is looking for furniture donations. 

Saturday - I think fall is here!

More stuff has left. Someone stopped by to pick up some Christmas decor and left with a lot more! Thank you Sara! 

Even the snowblower has been sold!

I got some good exercise helping a friend stack wood. I believe it was around two cords already split. 

Sunday - More evidence that fall has arrived. We are still sorting through stuff. All of the books are bagged up to go. Most of them are headed to Value Village. Plus a carload of stuff for the transfer station. 

Monday - More stuff dropped off today at multiple locations. And, we heard from the buyers that we can leave some things such as yard tools and a couple pieces of furniture. That was great news.

Tuesday - This morning after coffee, we met with some other RVers at the Fairbanks Food Bank to pack food boxes. We packed 72 boxes (two pallets) of boxes to be shipped out to individuals in northwest Alaska. 

New Tires for the Jeep

Monday - Time for new tires on the Jeep. Between being towed and driving, they have around 65,000 miles. I can’t complain about that. This is on the stock all-season tires. The new tires are all-terrain with a snow rating. And one size larger so the speedometer should be more accurate. Like every other car, it read a few percent high due to EU rules. I.e. the speedometer can read higher than actual but can not read lower. So manufacturers have them alway read above actual speed. As a side benefit for the manufacturer, the warranty will run out slightly faster!

I had originally ordered tires from Costco but when I went to my appointment to get them installed, I was told that Costco policy wouldn’t allow them to install them. The weight rating of the new tires were slightly less than the stock tires. So they gave me a refund. I bought the new tires from Alyeska Tire, the same shop that my son had worked at. I got a much better price than Costco.

Finding Our Someday

Thursday - We stopped at the visitors center near Portage Glacier. I drove by here three years ago when I got off the ferry with the Prius but didn’t stop then. It’s a nice, large visitor center with a good movie and lots of interactive displays. Portage Glacier is the one in the middle and it has receded a lot. Back in the early 80s, it was near where I’m standing. A lot of change.

In the evening, we went to a meetup arranged by an RV YouTube channel Finding Our Someday. We had briefly met them earlier in Tampa but there was quite a crowd then. The couple travel with their two teenage daughters and put out videos every week for years. 

They are now traveling in a beta class C motorhome from trailer RV manufacturer Grand Design. The 25’ RV is surprisingly large enough for their family. They are the middle four in this photo. 

Friday - We headed north before 8am as we needed to get back to Fairbanks to pick up the Jeep at the dealer. The recall was finished on Wednesday morning and they kept the Jeep in their fenced lot until we were able to pick it up today. 

Road Trip

Sunday - For the first time, the whole “empty the house” seems manageable. After emptying the shed with most of the stuff headed to the transfer station, I started pulling stuff from the “garage sale pile” and putting it into the transfer station pile. Stuff that nobody would buy but it’s still usable. Such as cheap ratchets or plumbing snakes. 

Tuesday - After coffee, we drove to Anchorage. It was raining for the first couple of hours and it started to clear up south of Cantwell. The rest of the drive was pleasant enough though there were a lot of people driving significantly under the speed limit. Not sure why…

Before coffee, I dropped the Jeep off at the dealer for a recall service. At almost 50K miles, we are getting a new clutch (flywheel, pressure plate, disc, throw out bearing, etc). It was supposed to be done today but they didn’t call so maybe they aren’t done yet.

Wednesday - After spending the night at our nephew’s home, we continued south towards Kenai. This is Turnagain Arm from the Seward Hwy. the tide is out but it wasn’t low tide. The last picture is a pano of the mouth of the Kenai River. Mt. Redoubt is the most prominent peak across the inlet  I hadn’t been to Kenai since the early 80s. 

Even More Junk...

Wednesday - After the rush and effort put into emptying the house for the listing photos, the remainder of yesterday was pretty laid back. I opted to not hang around for the photos. I kind of didn't want to hear the problems and shortcomings. This morning, we pulled out many bins of Legos and other toys out of the shed. There are also several Christmas trees, a couple of old tires, some furniture, a smoker, etc. A bunch of junk. Sigh...

Thursday - The shed is “empty”. I’m leaving the stuff like closet doors and screen doors that were removed over the years. Almost everything ended up at the transfer station i.e. trash.

Friday - Another damp day with a high temperature of only 60°F. The “For Sale” sign went up today and listing goes active on Sunday. There is still a lot more cleanup to do. The garage still has the yard sale stuff plus things that are going down in the Jeep. I need to start sorting out the things that are never going to sell and just take them down to the recycle area at the transfer station.

Saturday - Train rides were free today At Alaskaland Pioneer Park. We just happened to be there today as Bridget was dropping things off that she sold. 

Not a super exciting ride but the price was right. We went around the park twice. 

 

More Stuff…

Thursday - Morning coffee with friends at Alaska Coffee Roasters Company. One of the things I miss when gone from Fairbanks. After coffee, I head to storage to pick up the electric chain saw. One of the tools that I want to bring back to the RV. I don’t see a need for it in Alaska and it’s hard to transport on a plane. 

I started stacking things that would be in the Jeep on a shelf in the garage. There isn’t much room in the Jeep but I think the pile of stuff will be modest. I need to start looking for a bicycle rack as I want to bring my old bicycle down to TX. The e-bike is fine but it's not the same.

Friday - It's feeling like Fall is just around the corner. The temperature at 1pm is only 51°F.

Sunday - a not-rainy day for the first time in almost a week. I finished painting the old frame of the front porch. I’m calling it “done”. I also moved the swing back to the rear deck as the eyelets it is currently hanging from were designed for hanging plants not a swing. 

Tuesday - A photographer came by this morning to take pictures of the house for the listing. I left and went to coffee just to avoid hearing something or me saying something about the whole sale process. I'm kind of burned out by all of this. And still sore from mowing the grass and using the string trimmer along the road and driveway. And today, I need to start emptying out the shed. So much junk...

Finished the Railing

Monday - The maximum opening allowed on a railing is 4”. There is 59.5” between the posts on the front of the porch. If I assume the balusters are 1.5”, then each gap+baluster is 5.5”. Ten balusters would leave a 4.5” gap at the end. Foiled by ½”! I guess I’ll need 22 balusters for the front railing with 3.58” openings. 

The short end is 63.5” between the posts. Eleven balusters would have 3.91” openings. So I need to find 33 balusters. 

Tuesday - After morning coffee, we picked up the power miter saw from storage and balusters from Home Depot. I was planning to use pressure treated 2x2 but they didn’t have any available. Their app claims that they have 302 in stock. So I ended up using 2x2 cedar for 30% more. But at least this task is done. I need to paint the lower part of the porch as the paint is peeling as well as the three steps. Maybe I’ll pick up some lattice for that lower part. 

The railing really changes the appearance of the front of the house. 

Getting Things Out of the House

 Friday - After a day to recuperate from the drive, it's back to getting the house ready to sell. I'm to the point of starting to toss things that I would've tried to sell. But we kind of want to be out of here in a month or so. The upstairs is pretty empty but there is still junk in the downstairs bedrooms. I was cleaning out a closet and came across a Lenovo tablet/laptop with Windows 8 on it. I don't remember this laptop at all and don't remember Windows 8 at all. The battery doesn't hold a charge but I think it may be a useful machine as it's pretty will made.

I just finished a test session. As you can see, there isn't much in our living room anymore. The couch was dropped off a few days ago and I think the piano has a new home (hopefully). The floor was just installed while we were gone and it is looking pretty nice. The room really echos.

Saturday - Quite the temperature change especially compared to where I was last week! It has been raining off/on since last night. The fair opened up yesterday afternoon so the rain is right on schedule as it almost always rains during the fair.

I led a test session this morning for the first time is almost a month. I was sure that I was forgetting something but we got through it. The candidate passed easily. I started hauling things from the garage sale “pile” to the transfer station. Things that probably would not sell such a metal filing cabinet. No one is saving paper anymore. It took me quite a while to empty and shred paper from that cabinet. As well as a bunch of paper from my office that were in boxes. 

Sunday - The project of the day was railing for the front porch. One edge is more than 30” above the ground so a railing is required. I picked up some pressure treated posts and several 12’ long 2x4s. They sort of fit in the Prius by going out the front passenger window. Fortunately, it wasn’t raining and it isn’t that long of a drive. 

It took me most of the afternoon but the structural part of the railing is mostly done. I need one 8’ 2x4 and all of the balusters. Lowe’s was sold out of balusters so once I figure out how many I need, I’ll check Home Depot. 

Back to Fairbanks

Tuesday - I got an early start this morning as it was cold in the Jeep. Around 48°F without a sleeping bag. The “plan” is to stop at Fast Eddy’s in Tok for their salad bar. But I can’t arrive too early. I stopped in Beaver Creek for coffee and a small breakfast. This sidecar rig was sitting outside. I found the riders and talked to them a bit. 

I stopped at the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge. They had a pretty good movie and I did remember to stamp my National Park passport book. 

Fast Eddy’s in Tok was the the next stop after filling up. The overall average for this trip has been 28.6mpg. More than satisfactory as was the salad bar at Fast Eddy’s!

But it was a long drive. The is the long, straight road west of Tok.

Day 3 - Into the Yukon

Monday - This is the wonderful view from my overnight spot on the side of the road. A lot quieter than yesterday rest stop. There is much less traffic on the Cassiar than Hwy 16. 

Near the northern end of the Cassiar, there was a lot of smoke. I’m not sure where the fire is but it looks like it’s west of the Cassiar and south of the Alaska Hwy.

Today was another 600+ mile day ending at Kluane Lake. I’m stopped at a rest area near Destruction Bay. No view of Kluane Lake but there is an outhouse. Only 433 miles to go! It may be challenging to get to sleep as sunset isn’t until 11:17! 

North through B.C.

Sunday - I got an early start today but an accident in Hixon on a bridge stopped progress for a while. No roads around the bridge for quite a ways, I’m told. 

Due to the morning delay, only about 625 miles today due to the Hixon delay. Overnight was at a turnout around 90 miles south of Dease Lake. I stopped at Bell II for dinner but the kitchen was already closed. I had a sandwich and tomato soup from the Bell II gas station. It was a tasty meal. As usual, the Cassiar is wonderfully empty. The animal count on this trip so far is 2 deer, 1 coyote, 2 moose, and 12 black bear. All of the bear were along the southern end of the Cassiar. The two in the picture were about 4 miles from Bell II. Note all the smashed bugs on the windshield. This is after scrubbing the windshield clean about 100 miles ago…

Centralia, WA - British Columbia

Thursday - Friday - We are back at the RV switching things out again. We are headed back to AK tomorrow. We don’t need the dressier clothes and, since I’m driving the Jeep, I’m bringing some non-refrigerated food and minimal cooking stuff. Since the drive up wasn’t planned, my camping gear is still in TX. But the Jeep is minimally loaded so I can probably sleep in the back. 

It’s about 2,300 miles so about 4-5 days. It should be a nice trip. Four 10 hr days or five 8 hr days. I’ll probably do a couple of longer days for the first half of the trip followed by a couple of shorter days. I’ll probably head a bit to the east initially to avoid the possible crowds at the Seattle-Vancouver border crossing.

Saturday - A long-ish drive day. I am ~50 miles past Williams Lake, BC, or about 750 miles today. I crossed into Canada at Osoyoos, BC, as it’s usually a very short wait. It was about ten minutes. While approaching Hwy 97 at Cache Creek, the skies were looking pretty smoky. And the temperature was still in the upper 90s so I kept driving. I finally stopped at a rest area around 10:30 or so. 

Corvallis, OR

Wednesday - We arrived in Corvallis, OR, yesterday afternoon after a brief stop at the RV. After the drive along the WA coast with its cool temperatures, the triple digit temperatures seems especially hot. 

This morning, we worked on Peter’s van a bit. The trailer connector was missing tail lights on both the seven pin and the four pin. It turns out that Ford chose to power the trailer tail lights from the auxiliary battery which is no longer installed. It was removed when the lithium batteries were installed. We simply moved the auxiliary battery cable to the positive of the chassis battery. Easy fix. 

Thursday - Tuesday - Family reunion. Not much time for blogging. In fact, this is the only picture I took of any reunion activities. But it was a wonderful time and we had a great turnout. 

Wednesday - We left Sun River this morning and are stopped in Woodland, WA. I had spent a couple of days here as guests of the Arnetts back in 2016 getting our 5th wheel RV ready for traveling. A lot has happened since then. 

We stopped at Dave and LJ’s RV RV Furniture again. We had stopped by here last fall looking for a new couch. We found exactly what we were looking for but didn’t pick it up assuming that we would be able to find something similar in Texas. We weren’t able to find anything. We now have one on hold until we get back to the area near the end of the summer and have it installed. 

Port Angeles, WA

Sunday - We caught the ferry to Port Townsend and saved a lot of miles. And, we didn’t have to deal with Seattle traffic. 

It was a quick 35 minute trip. After disembarking, we headed to the Olympic National Park visitors center to get a recommendation on what to see if pressed for time. They gave us several suggestions and some maps. 

This is Port Townsend. The area looks vaguely familiar as I had been here several times but I would have difficulty finding my way around. 

We are now at a motel in Port Angeles recovering from the very hectic past few days. 

Steak and bleu cheese salad. Delicious. Followed up with an ice cream cone for dessert.  (No ice cream photo)

Monday - Today, we headed to the coast towards Rialto Beach. This is just within Olympic National Park. The rocky beach was nice and as long as we were near the water, the temperature was cool. (Mid-60s)

We also visited the largest cedar and the largest Sitka Spruce (pictured). These were a little inland and the temperature jumped into the low 90s. It went up and down all day. 

We ended up in Ocean Shores at a hotel that just changed ownership. The sign did not reflect the new name. But it was a great deal for a really nice room.

Tomorrow, we head to Corvallis. 

4th of July (plus a few more days)

Thursday - Today was a cooking day. We made fish tacos using rockfish along with all the common sides such as Spanish rice, black beans, and Mexican corn. 

Friday - Another cooking day. I helped with the rehearsal dinner. Mostly with the pork ribs and chicken. This was the poké appetizer. Delicious!

Saturday - Wedding Day. Today we celebrated with my nephew and his bride. The wedding was in Anacortes, WA, and it was quite the event in a beautiful location.