Chapter 8: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

~Our plan for the 15^th, was a very early wake-up call, 3:30 am, to get Jonathan to the airport. Then it would be a long day of traveling to get back to the lower 48 as soon as possible. With tears in our eyes, either from Jonathan leaving us or the earliness of the morning, we dropped Jonathan off and disembarked Anchorage. 

~The drive from Anchorage to Tok in Alaska on Highway one was a beautiful one with the sunrise lasting for what seemed like several hours. The road climbing, dropping and winding next to rivers and streams as the sun remained just hidden behind the looming mountains. 

~ After close to eleven hours of driving we made a brief stop at the Alaska/Yukon border for a few more pictures, including one with Mathew holding a framed picture of his brother Michael and sister-in-law Mindy, and then it was on to the Canadian Border Authority. We pulled up, shut off the Ole Hezzie, handed them our passports and answered a few simple questions and they were satisfied.

~Wouldn't you know, Ole Hezzie wouldn't start back up. Since we were sitting right in the traffic lane, we get out to try and push her out of the way but something is stuck and she doesn't seem to change into neutral. The border patrol gives a local mechanic a call and reroute traffic to another lane. Thinking we may have a problem with the transmission, we got towed a few kilometers to a campground for the night and plan to get fixed up in the morning.

~After a night's rest, a few more phone calls and some closer inspection. It seems our transmission is fine, but the emergency brake is sticking. The local mechanic tows us to his shop and we head off for breakfast at Buckshot Betty's. We end up just cutting the line for the emergency brake and are finally on our way again early in the afternoon. 

~We make a stop in Whitehorse at nine in the evening for gas. As Dan looks underneath he notices a new problem. It seems the tow earlier in the day and the rough roads have broken the frame holding the batteries and they are hanging precariously low and seem in danger of dropping off beneath the Ole Hezzie. After a couple hours of backwoods ingenuity and the help of a local named Arnie, the batteries are “secured” and we are road-ready again. 

~At 12:30 pm we cross a decent length bridge and Nathan and Matthew climb on top of the Ole Hezzie for the crossing. Dan keeps her slow as pictures are taken of the moonlight dancing off the water. Trying to make up some ground Matthew and Nathan keep us rolling until we are close to Watson Lake and junction 37, it's three AM.

~Dan is back up at seven to continue our drive out of the Yukon and into British Columbia. As a side note, the master brake cylinder for the front brakes has been leaking, so every couple days we've been having to top it off to keep the front brakes working. 

~The starter acts up every now and then as well, but if she doesn't start, Dan just crawls underneath, gives it a few taps as we turn the key and she fires right up. With rougher roads, stops for bull moose antlers, brake fluid refills, and road construction it's hard to make up ground, but we still decide to call it a day about nine pm on the evening of the 16^th near Houston, BC.

~Monday brought another full day of travel. Mile after mile again blows by with stops coming just for gas or to refill the brake fluid or to just avoid cabin fever and just stretch out a bit more while throwing rocks down a ravine toward some railroad tracks.

~It's close to nine pm when we approach the US/Canada border. Worried our hot starter won't restart if we shut it off at the border, we first pull over into a Costco. Parking lot to let it cool down first and refill the brake fluid once again. Turns out to be an uneventful crossing back into the states, not even turning the Ole Hezzie off. We continue south past Seattle and Olympia and pull over beside the highway at two am for some sleep, happy to be out of the Canadian territories.