8-28-18

This started out as a not so good day and then became a great day!

Up early this morning to get the van to her 8 AM mechanics appointment at University Chevron in Fairbanks- the mechanic will fix the transmission linkage and check out the cold start / backfire issue as well as checking a small oil leak its’ developed.

I got there on time and asked if they had a shuttle that could give me a ride somewhere with WiFi, like a McDonalds, and they had a man drive me to The ‘College Coffee House’ which they said had couches and WiFi. When we got there it turns out it had been closed for remodeling since July! Mike, the driver took me to the Sourdough Restaurant nearby instead. He dropped me off and turns out they did not have WiFi. Sad day. I found a booth in a corner that had a power outlet nearby and ordered breakfast.

After eating I plugged my phone in and the computer to charge it up and put earphones in to listen to a comedy podcast. I passed a couple of hours this way, drinking coffee and watching people come and go. When I first got there I received an email from the mechanics saying my vehicle had been checked in for service, but when it was 11:30 I got concerned that I had not heard from them again at all. I called them and when I got someone on the phone they said, “Yeah, your van is next up.” It hadn’t been touched in all that time! This meant hanging out in the restaurant booth until 2 pm and even then I never got a call from them. I called at 1:30 and no one answered so I left a message asking for a pick-up. By 2:00 when no one called back a kind waitress who was going off shift offered me a ride there.

When I showed up the van was outside and between two bays. Troy, the guy I’d been dealing with said he did not have the information on the van yet, but would shortly- when he got it he asked if I wanted the bad news or the good news- uh oh

.

Good news was that the linkage had gone together with no problems at all. The bad news was that they thought the hard start/ backfire was a carburetor issue and they did not rebuild/ work on those. There is only ONE shop in Fairbanks who does and they were too busy. The other good thing is they did not think the problem would get worse and I could have the work done when I got home, so not so bad. Troy also gave me a break on the shop expenses since they couldn’t fix it. He said the oil leak was from a gasket on the oil filter housing- a gasket, but not on the filter itself and no one around had the part sooooo…small oil leak.  That is not a problem, I’m carrying 8 quarts of oil and the leak is very small…I will just add oil as necessary and get it fixed later at home as well. $ 135 later and I’m back on the road.

I decide to go to Livengood, the last town before the Dalton Highway and wait there for better weather forecast for tomorrow. Today had been rainy and cold all day. I finally headed out of Fairbanks and got on a road North again.

It was a pretty drive and the road went from 4 lanes to a 2 pretty quickly with construction and frost heaves and occasional potholes around. There wasn’t much traffic so I cruised along 5-10 mph below the speed limit most of the way so the road didn’t beat me up. As I went farther north the weather started getting better- rain was stopping and you could see blue patches of sky and even some Sun breaks ahead! I decided to push on and get on the Dalton today; see how far I could get.

At the Dalton Highway sign I stopped to get a picture of the van by the sign and there was a touring bicyclist named Benji who had ridden all the way from Deadhorse. I took his picture by the sign and he took mine. He is riding the Pan American Highway North to South.  I asked him if he needed anything and he asked for some water so I got him my gallon of store bought water and he took what he needed. While we were hanging out two Aussies named Joel and Keegan drove up in their electric and solar powered camper van they had put together. They are also driving the Pan American Highway!

 We all shared stories and contact information and laughed about whether we would see each other along the road in South America or even at the end in Tierra del Fuego. Funny.

Driving the Dalton requires concentration. The road I’ve been on is not really all that bad, you just need to watch your speed and the loose gravel and mud and potholes and get out of the way of big trucks so you need to pay attention all the time. I kept in D2 most of the time and drove along about 35 or so, sometimes slower for most of the way. About 35 miles in the road became a very nice two lane blacktop and I could get up to 45-50…that was really flying!

I realized I should top off the tank when I got to the Yukon River Camp which was just across the Yukon River Bridge. There I had the pleasure of paying $ 5.49 a gallon for unleaded. It was 7:30 by now and even though it stays light here until very late, I was too tired to want to drive the extra 60 miles to the Arctic Circle today.

After spending the extra money on repairs coming up here I have decided to move the goalposts and now the Journey North will end at the Arctic Circle and I will not continue to Deadhorse. It would be another $ 300 in gas and I just don’t see the point now. If I can make it to the Antarctic Circle in South America (is there such a thing?) I will also call it Mission Accomplished!

I drove 4 miles past the gas stop to a campground and set up for the night. While I was there a USGS Surveyor named Darren was taking GPS readings and doing other surveyor stuff. I asked him if he wanted a cup of coffee and he did! I brewed two cups of maxspresso and gave him his in an unused Subway coffee cup with a lid I had acquired. I don’t know if this good deed helped, but I got my oven and heater working- got the dial moving and lit the pilot then set the heater and now I am toasty and in a beautiful, secluded free campsite….so a Great Day after all.

Tomorrow to the Arctic Circle!

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