This is my mother, Arline Chandler, with her dog Spot, and her husband, Lee Smith. They are now in Fairbanks, Alaska. This photo was taken on May 27 as they entered the Alaskan Highway. Here's what Mom had to say about that: "Tonight, we're at Dawson Creek, British Columbia, mile zero of the Alaskan Highway. The park is Northern Lights. We drove from Edmonton today--drove all day in the rain, but right now, it's beautiful. This happened in Edmonton--rain all day, then beautiful evenings, but rain again in the night. Of course, it's after 8:00 and it looks like about 4:00 at home."Now, in Fairbanks, they are having the engine replaced on their motorhome. I'll let Mom tell you what happened...
June 14-- "We are in Beaver Creek, only 20 miles from the U.S. border—and we’re having problems with the motorhome. We drove over the roughest stretch of highway yet yesterday--even worse after I e-mailed you from Kluane Wilderness Lodge--and our hitch on the motorhome came loose, damaging the tow bar. We stopped at a place and had the hitch welded permanently to the coach, but this morning Lee says the tow bar is too damaged to pull the Jeep, so I’ll have to drive on into Tok—about 135 miles. We also have a problem with the radiator and we’re leaking oil. We’re trying to get to Fairbanks to a Cummins dealer, but we’ll have to find some kind of help in Tok. The road between Haines Junction and Beaver Creek was some of the most difficult to build initially. Especially within the last 80 miles into Beaver Creek. The area has permafrost and the road heaves every winter with the freezing and thawing. It was like riding a roller coaster. Don't worry about us--these things are typical, especially when traveling to Alaska--and we'll take care of them. We're in no danger of damaging the motorhome as long as we keep pouring in oil and water -- not in the same place!!
They ended up limping into Fairbanks, 200 miles away, and on June 16, she wrote - "Well, this has not been our best day! We did not have good news about the motorhome. The turbo charger had disintegrated and thrown debris into the engine, so we have to have a new engine. Certainly not something we had expected! It has to be air-shipped from Memphis and will take at least four—maybe five—days. Then we don’t know how long to install it. Maybe only a couple of days. We are parked at this shop and will be here for the duration—without any power or water. We’ll have to hunt some place to take showers. We’ve done this before in the desert, so it will be OK. So will the repairs. We’ll just have to live through it. I’m thankful that the engine did not give up when we were out in the wilderness. We would have had to have been towed. So at least, we’re where we can get help."
The engine has arrived, and it will take a few days to replace it, so next week, the clan will be moving from the motorhome in the dealership parking lot to a Fairbanks bed and breakfast. They continue to sight-see in the area and take tours. Here's their latest agenda:
June 23 - "We also booked a flight to the Arctic Ocean next Thursday. It will be a day trip to a tiny village called Barrow. Lee felt his trip is not complete if he doesn't cross the Arctic Circle--and of course, going all the way to the Arctic Ocean is even better. We could have driven across the Arctic Circle, but not to the Ocean. And the road is rough gravel. Spot has been booked into a kennel for one day and one night, although we won't be gone overnight. We're also going to have to leave our motorhome when they start work, probably on Monday. So we found a bed and breakfast that will take us and Spot--actually, the bed and breakfasts here are cheaper than the motels or hotels--although nothing is cheap! We hope we'll only have to stay three nights."
